Kuchiki's Do Not Fall In Love!
by wolfdancer333
Summary: Kuchiki, Rukia has just started Business at Seireitei University. She had her whole life planned out until the day she meets Kurosaki, Ichigo. She had asked a single room...So why was she rooming with a spiky, orange haired giant? Can one fated meeting change the path laid out for her or will the Kuchiki name be too much to bear?


**A/N:** Hello! This is contributed to the Ichiruki month College AU!

The moment Kuchiki, Rukia stepped into the large reception of Seireitei University she knew it was going to be a long and tedious 4 years. Her violet-blue eyes gazed around the expansive area with disinterest at the amount of space being wasted. Her black leggings were tight against her skin and she grumbled at the fact she needed to actually wake up and join Yachiru at the gym like she had been putting off for the past three weeks. Her dark purple shirt was stained and faded with multiple small tears around the seams and judging by the looks she was receiving – who in the hell expected any college student to be upbeat, perky, and _alive_? – others noticed too.

Her small hands clutched the hem of her shirt, her lip jutting out slightly and cheeks darkening. This was her favourite shirt. Her Nii-sama had bought it for her because of the large, pink Chappy rabbit in the center and anything her Nii-sama bought her was a treasure. Remembering Byakuya and her name – adopted but no less _hers_ as much as his – Rukia took a deep breath, relaxing her muscles. Her spine straightened and she held her head forward, determined not to let the stares bother her too much. At least not until she had coffee; blessed, sweet coffee, the nectar of the Gods that fed her soul as much as it did her body.

Her purple flats clicked against the linoleum of the lobby as she approached the receptionist desk, her black hair pushed behind her ears to keep it away from her face – because a Kuchiki never hides, especially their face, so their Stare of Doom could slaughter offenders on the spot. She clasped her hands in front of her, waiting patiently for the girl with long orange hair to notice her as Kuchiki's were never unnoticeable. A minute passed. Then three. At six, Rukia had to remind herself that the girl probably didn't notice her because she was underneath the desk and would notice her as soon as she stood to her feet.

When a whole ten minutes had passed, Rukia's jaw ticked and her thin thread of patience snapped. Slamming her hands on the receptionist desk, she shouted, "Hey, I need to check-in!"

The girl screamed and Rukia jumped back, eyes wide and heart racing, before a loud thud resounded in the too large lobby. Wincing with guilt, Rukia approached much more slowly, leaning over on her hands. Just as she leaned over, the receptionist shot up to her feet and Rukia's face darkened to a new shade of embarrassment when she came face to face with the largest pair of breasts she had ever seen in her life. And she was eye level to a lot of breasts. Coughing into a fist and leaning back, she straightened her posture and hoped her blush faded enough for her to form coherent sentences.

Her violet-blue met the embarrassed and sheepish brown-gray eyes of Breast-Girl, who was rubbing the back of her neck and laughing awkwardly. "Sorry about that! I dropped my barrette and my nii-sama gave them to me so I can't lose them and –"

The girl had leaned on the desk to animatedly tell Rukia this story who was blinking in surprise at the fact that there was, indeed, a perky college girl. She held up a hand with a small smile and instantly, the other girl closed her mouth mid-sentence. "Sorry, I'm just in a hurry to get to my dorm room."

Not deterred in the slightest, she gave Rukia a bouncy, bright smile and leaned over to focus on the computer on the receptionist desk, her long orange hair falling over her shoulders. The light blue blouse she was wearing was loose and, admittedly, Rukia liked her taste in clothing. It was fashionable but tasteful and loose so as not to draw any more attention to her figure. She clicked the keys on the keyboard a bit, scrolled with the mouse, and stuck out her tongue as the lights of the computer screen flashed across her face.

"Ah!"

It took everything in her not to jump at the shout when the girl looked up at her with wide, round eyes. "I'm so sorry! I haven't even introduced myself! I'm Inoue, Orihime!"

She held out a hand and, hesitantly, Rukia shook it. Was this how friends were made? Was Orihime a friend? Kuchiki's were never rude so Rukia offered her own. "My name is Kuchiki, Rukia. Pleasure to meet you."

Bending from her waist, Rukia bowed and when she lifted her head, Orihime was blinking her wide eyes at her. A smile bloomed almost immediately and she smiled widely at her. "Most people don't bow any more these days, you must be from a good family! Let's see, I'll look you up and get your schedule and stuff to you right away!"

Sighing quietly in relief she could finally throw her stuff in her room and head off to find the nearest Starbucks, she waited for Orihime to find her dorm. Byakuya was paying for her schooling and even though she had offered to pay for it herself by getting a part-time job, he had refused and told her to focus on her studies. From what he had told her, knowing how much she despised sharing a room, he had paid for a spacious single dorm and when Orihime shouted in triumph, Rukia found excitement swelling inside of her. Finally! She could go and lie down a minute and then get her precious coffee.

Feeling the excitement rushing through her, to stop from bouncing on her heels – Kuchiki's do _not_ bounce – Rukia found herself tapping her left foot on the floor, her flat clicking quickly. Orihime clicked the mouse then hurried to a large printer behind her, behind the desk, as the printer whirred and woke from it's slumber. Rukia envied that printer. All it needed was a click and bam! Awake and ready. She needed three cups of coffee, to wake an hour early to make sure she had time to wake up, and six alarms. When she realized her eyes were narrowed on an inanimate object, she flushed and looked at the white and black linoleum floor and her tapping foot.

"Here you go, Rukia!"

She snapped her head up to see Orihime holding out a thick packet, a brochure, a map, her schedule, and a key with a ring paper-clipped together. Hastily she took them from the bright girl who gave her a happy wave. "Ja ne, Rukia. Have a good day!"

She gave a small wave and hurried into a corridor off to the left of the lobby, shoving her back against the wall as she leaned her head back and closed her eyes. The middle of her forehead and the back of her head acquired a slight ache and she sighed at the headache coming on. Sparkling, happy people were not her thing. People in general were not her thing. Byakuya had banned her from going to the store without him – originally at all until she had pulled the famous Rukia Pout – when he got called to Wal-Mart at 4am because a belligerent douche had grabbed the last of her Strawberry Chappy Mochi Ice Cream when he had clearly seen her reaching for it. Her arms were too short and when she had confronted him about it, he sneered, opened the package, and ate one in front of her.

He regretted it. A punch to the gut and suddenly she's the bad guy! Blowing a breath out of her lips, the lock of hair that was never tamed and fell over the bridge of her nose remained in her face. Cursing that single lock of hair that never listened to her, she blinked to clear away as much of the headache as she could before looking down at the papers in her hand. She held the packet up and saw that attached to the keyring was a small, clear rectangle with her dorm number followed by her room number.

Efficient. Lifting the first two papers, she found the map underneath them and searched for her dorm number. When she found it she nearly broke out into a run – also something Kuchiki's do not do – when she saw that it was right outside the lobby and to the right. Dorm Number 2, room number 342. Even with her head pulsing at the headache developing in her skull, she smiled in relief and rolled up the packet, stuffing it into the pockets in her leggings. Glancing around the corridor she found herself in, she could see the beauty of Seireitei University.

The corridor didn't have linoleum; instead the hallway was filled with black carpet that brought out the white of the walls. Something she noticed – with dread – was that Seireitei University had lots of windows. This stretch had 5 windows with two to her right and three to her left. The windows curved up into an arch from the ground up to a couple of inches from the ceiling – which was arched like a church and a multitude of paintings covered the bare space. She was rather intrigued by the shinigami in black robes and the weird monsters in masks.

There were a few doors with no labels down this hallway and on her right, a bit further down, was a set restrooms for males and females. In the middle was a single that had a male and female icon and she raised her eyebrows in surprise, blinking quickly. That was new. The first University to incorporate a multi-gender bathroom. Walking past it, she peeked inside curiously and nearly screamed when a blue haired guy slouched out. Shouldering past her with a glare, he tsk'd and Rukia felt her ire build.

Spinning around, she shouted at the man who had shoved her and thought he could just fuck off somewhere. "Hey, mind apologizing?"

He didn't turn around but he threw his head and heaved a heavy sigh as he annunciated a very poor, insincere apology. "I'm fucking sorry you're such a short, nosy shit."

He tilted his head back and took a total of two steps before Rukia's foot slammed into his lower back, sending him flying forward and onto his face. His nose hit the ground and Rukia smirked when she landed on her feet, knees bent. She straightened, dusted off her leggings like she was brushing away bugs, and turned. Peeking behind her at the fallen man, she lifted her middle finger and glided forward in as elegant a walk as anyone who just power kicked someone. She heard the rustling of his clothes and the curse before the pounding of feet on the carpet reached her ears. Kuchiki's never run, they walk, elegantly and graceful like a butterfly.

But Rukia ran. She darted forward for the large, glass doors that would lead to the middle courtyard and the path that would take her to her dorm. She could hear him behind her, his feet thudding on the carpet and she could feel the anger rolling off of him. She didn't know if she could take him and at the thought of all the money Byakuya was spending just to put her through school when she wasn't even his responsibility. Technically she was since he adopted her after her sister, his wife, had passed and asked him to find her in the flawed system that had separated them in the first place. Feeling wind at her neck, she knew he was right behind her and grabbing for her black hair that was flying behind her.

She barrelled through the glass doors, careful to not break them, and dove down to the ground just as the doors burst open behind her a second later. The blue haired man was panting and looking around wildly, his gaze narrowed and angry as his light blue eyes with green mascara scanned the courtyard for her. She kept herself close to the shrub she was hidden in, watching him scan for her. He growled when he couldn't find her and shouted, making a few students jump in surprise. "When I see you again, you're dead!"

He spun and slammed through the glass doors, grumbling and slouched and Rukia, panting and winded, wondered if his rudeness was hereditary. Sighing, Rukia waited a moment until most of the students milling about left – probably due to the crazy blue haired spiky dude threatening people – before she stood. She poked out of the shrubs and winced when she felt the sting of scratches on her arms and nearly cried when she looked down to brush off the twigs and leaves to see a now dime-sized hole in the middle of the Chappy rabbit on her shirt.

The warmth of tears made her jaw clench because Kuchiki's _do not cry_. Pushing back the gloominess of her favourite shirt being ruined, she stepped out of the shrubs and onto a stone pathway with two clicks of her flats. Looking up, she was met with the largest fountain she had ever seen. It was white marble and glinted in the sunlight from the open roof, sparkling. There was a large phoenix carved of marble, spitting water out of it's beak – which was odd, because phoenix's were fire. Shaking her head and not prepared to go into seeking answers about why a fiery phoenix was spitting out water, she turned and headed right. Following the stone pathway led her to another set of glass doors.

Above the arch of the door-frame was a silver number 2 and Rukia gave herself one last, careless dusting before she pushed the doors open and headed inside. It was quiet and she sighed in relief, her temple throbbing at the headache pounding a hammer into her brain. Dejectedly, she looked around for the elevators, finding them off to the left of the entrance. Heading towards them, she leaned over and pressed the up arrow. As the elevator hummed, she cross her arms tightly over her chest, wanting to both burst into tears and scream angrily.

This was not a good day. She was tired, had no coffee, her favourite shirt was ripped, she made an enemy on her first day, and Byakuya had been disappointed with her when she left. She still wasn't sure how she was going to repair that bridge and realizing just how quickly her life had fallen to shit, Rukia bit her lip to keep the tears at bay. An ache gnawed at her and as soon as the elevator dinged, she rushed through the doors before they could even open fully. She pressed the button for the third floor hastily. Huddled in the back corner with her arms over her chest, she waited for the elevator doors to close.

Right when they were closing, a large hand shot out and the doors immediately pulled back. Tired, angry, and on the verge of crying Rukia snapped, "Could have moved a bit faster, dickhead."

The first thing she noticed about him when he entered the elevator was his height. He was tall. In the cramped space, she could tell she would barely reach the middle of his chest and this made her clutch her arms tighter. The second thing she noticed was the bright orange, spiky hair on his head. And the third was the scowl etched on his face. He moved to the opposite corner, leaning back against the elevator as the doors slipped closed. He turned his head to glare down at her before he shot back, "What's your rush, midget? Not like your short little legs will get you anywhere quicker."

Rukia Kuchiki was done with today. Looking up at him, she glared with as much fierceness as she could, summoning her Kuchiki Stare of Doom. "How about my short little legs kick your ass?"

The man faced her, dropping his crossed arms to his side, and stared heatedly down at her. His brown eyes darkened to an almost red-brown as he snarled out, "Try me, midget."

Unaware of it, she uncrossed her own arms and stepped closer, fists balled at her sides as she glared up at him with just as much anger, the sudden sorrow roiling in her gut making her lash out. "Fuck off, strawberry."

He sputtered a moment before he flicked her forehead in retaliation. "Who the fuck are you calling strawberry?"

She snorted, one hand on her hip, and gestured up at his bright hair. "Who are you calling midget?"

When their eyes met again, Rukia realized just how close they had gotten in their argument. Her nose was almost level with the hard, broad plane of his chest and she flushed when she found her eyes drawn downwards. Rukia had never really had time for men – what was the point? They were all pompous assholes anyway – but even she had to admit that Strawberry had a pretty impressive figure. She could see the way his sharp hipbones stuck out from beneath his shirt and she would bet money he had a six pack of abs hidden beneath the black shirt that was rather form fitting on him. His chest was broad, angular, and she could make out the muscles rippling beneath his skin. Her eyes trailed over his collarbone, up his thick neck, over his chin, and met his brown eyes just as they lightened to a honey-amber.

The elevator whirred upwards, unaware of the heavy atmosphere inside, and Rukia knew she should step back, put space between them, and tell him to fuck off. But she didn't. Strawberry stared down at her with his eyebrows cantered downwards over his eyes, his mouth in a frown. The lines of his face were etched with his anger and Rukia had the sudden, embarrassing desire to erase them from his face with her fingers. She bit her lip, the movement slight in the cramped space, but his eyes flicked to the motion instantly.

His eyes narrowed and she saw the way his shoulders tightened, his adam apple bobbing in his throat before he snapped his head to the side. A small dusting of pink graced his cheeks and his frown had deepened. He turned his body away, angled away from her, and the moment – whatever moment it had been – faded to a dull throb in the air. Violet-blue gaze rooted to the black and white carpet of the elevator, she wished for those doors to open so she could flee. She _couldn't_ risk this-this- _whatever_ with some Strawberry dude she had just met on an elevator. Straightening her shoulders as the doors slid open, she walked with her head up and her shoulders back.

Looking over her shoulder at the brown-amber eyed man, she flipped him off and turned to walk to her dorm at his sputtering curses with a grin that stretched her lips.

Rukia had been raised by her Nii-sama since she was around 11 – she was now the womanly age of 21 – and all the things she knew about self-defence and fighting had come fro him. He, himself, had trained her to be able to handle her own in case he was not there to save her. As she walked down the white carpeted hallway towards her room, a sense of foreboding overtook her and Rukia, one for abiding by her senses, glanced around. There was nothing out of the ordinary. From the other end of the hallway stood a tall, dark skinned man with shaggy dark brown hair. He was very muscled and he was talking to a man in a doctor's lab coat. Doctor was smaller and wore glasses with a metal frame, his black hair falling perfectly in line behind his ears.

Shaking her head and the feeling away, she dug out the key from her pocket and twisted the lock. The click was satisfying and she sagged in relief. Finally! Starbucks, here she –

The moment she stepped into the elegantly modern room, she froze. Her violet-blue orbs were locked on the man standing off to the right. His orange hair was vibrant in the light from the arched windows between two single beds, casting a rainbow over his tall frame. And she would remember that set of muscles anywhere. She blinked, dropping her key to the floor, and Strawberry seemed just as surprised. His hold on the phone he had held to his ear loosened as the device hit the carpet with a thud. They stared each other down, eyes wide and mouths agape. Rukia felt her gut twist inside itself as she realized that this was definitely not a single room.

Outside the window that Strawberry had opened, a warm breeze blew back the sheer curtains and the smell of rain filtered into the room. Rukia swallowed and she was the first to break their stare, looking out the window at the encroaching dark clouds rolling in. They were inching closer to the Sun, tendrils of wispy darkness wanting to blot out the Sun's light and cast the world into a turbulent storm. Her heart fell to her stomach as she heaved a weary sigh.

This, apparently, made Strawberry angry. "Hey, it's not like I wanted to room with a psychotic midget like you either!"

Feeling anger rumble in her blood, she clenched her hands into fists and glared up at the tall man. "Shut up, fool."

He snorted, raising one orange eyebrow as his lips twitched into a half mocking smirk. "Who even still _uses_ the word fool?"

Rukia ignored him and headed straight for the bed on the left, flopping onto her stomach and burying her head into the pillow that had been brought from her home. It smelled like cherry blossoms and a musky fragrance she knew belonged to the only home she had ever known. She squeezed her eyes shut into the fabric of the silky pillow, blanking out the storm rolling in and the movements of the tall idiot as he fumbled around their shared space. A weary sort of numbness washed over her. Maybe if she pretended he wasn't there he would really leave and she wouldn't have to deal with him any more.

She wasn't sure when she fell asleep or for how long but the moment thunder crashed, she shot up, her hands lifting her sleepy face to glance out the window. Strawberry must have closed them and they were latched shut but the storm outside was in full swing. Heavy winds slammed into the building and rattled the windows as rain pelted the Earth heavily in a thick sheet. The clouds had darkened and the Sun was eclipsed by them. Stretching her arms above her head, Rukia yawned just as a white, familiar shape caught her eye on the stand next to her bed. She looked over at the tall Starbucks Grande cup and blinked rapidly.

How had that gotten there? She reached for the coffee, the cup still hot and steam still rising from the lip. She looked for any sign of a name and when she found it she glared at the small note written there. A crude drawing of a lion-bear was there, patting his behind, with his head turned back to stick his tongue out followed by the words: "Maybe this will make you easier to deal with." Rukia snorted in disdain, rolling her eyes and knowing that there was no way he would know how to make her coffee. But coffee was coffee.

She lifted the edge to her lips and poured the hot beverage down her throat, the sweet slightly bitterness making her eyes widen as she stared at the cup as if it had offended her entire family. How did that fool know how to make her coffee? It was just the way she liked it. Sweet but slightly bitter with a hint of cream and caramel. She raised the cup to her lips as her eyes watched the dark storm and a hint of a smile danced at the corners. Well, so the big buffoon had manners after all. Thunder rumbled in the clouds, the air thick and heavy with the roiling storm, but Rukia's heart had lightened even if only slightly.

Invigorated, she took a couple more sips of the coffee before setting it on the stand by her bed. Taking a deep breath, she tucked her hair behind her ears and took a good look at the whole room, standing in front of the doorway to get a good view of what she was dealing with. The room was spacious with thick, fluffy white carpet that was like a cloud between her toes. She dug them in with a small giggle before examining the rest of the room. Off to her immediate left and right was a bathroom for each room-mate. Along the wall sat the deep mahogany wood bed. Off to the side of each bed was a night stand with the arched window in the middle.

In the gap between the bed and the bathroom, in that small space, was a desk for each of them with a nice, small chair without wheels. Sliding her feet across the carpet – and ignoring the chiding voice of her Nii-sama that she was not a little girl – she headed toward the bathroom. Peeking her head in, her eyes widened in surprise at the beautiful bathroom. Everything was smooth and white marble that glittered in the small, square sunroof etched into the ceiling that allowed light to fall from above. To her right was a wardrobe built into the wall. Both doors were cracked and she could see her clothes neatly hung up. She vowed to thank her Nii-sama for everything he had done for her.

Next to the wardrobe was a white, shiny sink with intricate handles and surrounded by three marble counters. The wood was mahogany like the bed-frame with drawers that had silver handles in the same twisting and curling design as the sink handles. She stepped onto the marble tiles and squeaked at the cold that burned her feet, jumping back onto the carpet. The toilet was pure white and there was her Chappy toilet rug. The tub in the back was deep and long with an attached shower. A cherry blossom shower curtain with silver sparkles was hung up and Rukia's smile faded. That had been her Nee-chan's and it had been one of her Nii-sama's treasures.

The fact he had had it hung up so she could be comfortable caused warmth to blossom in her chest. Off to the left was a towel rack where her Chappy towels hung, two side by side, and at the foot of the bathtub was her Chappy bath mat and she grinned at the way her bathroom was starting to look hers. She looked down at the marble tiles and glared, holding out a finger as she quietly mumbled, "I'm not afraid of you or anything. Kuchiki's are not afraid of anything."

The tiles stared back, disbelieving and silent, and Rukia felt a tick in her skull. Stomping onto the tiles, she stood there, the cold burning into her bare feet. Trembling, she stared down at the tiles and stuck her tongue out but just as she turned toward the wardrobe, the tiles struck. She felt her feet go out from underneath her and she clamped her eyes shut just as she hit the marble. She winced at the pain in her arm that she had landed on and pressed her other palm flat against the tiles to lift herself up. Her legs were tangled off to the side and though she hurt from the hard fall, nothing seemed broken.

She gave the tiles a heinous glare and stood, hesitantly, to her feet. Striding much more carefully, she reached the doors and slide them open. Inside the wardrobe was all her clothes – mostly dresses ass Kuchiki's did not usually wear anything else but Rukia had badgered her Nii-sama with the Rukia Pout and won some freedom – and at the bottom was a single suitcase. She lifted the small suitcase out and carried it back into the shared room. Curiosity eat at her and she stubbornly plopped down on the floor to open her suitcase, ignoring the way Strawberry's side seemed to whisper her name.

She dug through the black suitcase, smiling as she pulled out object after object. She piled them all on the floor, zipped her suitcase back, and slid it under the bed with a heavy shove. She grabbed the laptop her Nii-sama had bought her – Chappy themed! – and put it on the desk, running her fingers over the pink rabbit's smiling face. She retrieved her pencil holder, also Chappy and filled with Chappy pens, and placed it on the back of the desk. Rukia worked on her room until sweat piled at the base of her neck as she hung up the last of her posters on her side of the room. There was a multitude of Chappy posters but there were a couple of photos and she ran her fingers gently over the most faded one.

An older version of herself stood next to a younger Byakuya, the two smiling softly as they stood together, the large cherry tree of the Kuchiki Estate in the background. The blossoms had bloomed and were dancing around the two smiling figures. Rukia felt her eyes sting as her fingers traced the faded, torn picture of the only thing she had left of her Nee-chan. Nii-sama had told her stories growing up, walking through the Kuchiki Gardens, of Hisana but nothing compared to the day he handed her the photo. Hisana looked so much like her they could have passed for twins but even Rukia could see the sickness that ate at her, frozen in her eyes and the small, thin frame that held Kuchiki, Hisana together.

Her dying wish had been for Byakuya to find Rukia and raise her, to take care of her in her place, and Byakuya had done just that. Rukia huddled back against the bed-frame, arms wrapped around her knees. Her violet eyes peeked up at the photo wistfully as she remembered times long past. The storm outside raged on, the rain hammering heavier against the roof and the wind whistling like the howling of dogs. She clutched her body tighter. Kuchiki, Rukia hated the rain. She loved snow but despised the rain.

Hisana had died on a rainy Spring day. Their parents had died in a car crash due to the rain. She had been adopted on a Wintery day that was both rainy and snowy. The day she fought with Nii-sama it was raining. She sighed and reached for her phone lying on the bed next to her. She unlocked her phone and smiled at the photo of Chappy dancing on her phone screen. She watched the happy rabbit with a small smile before she tapped the contacts button. Scrolling, she tapped the screen on her Nii-sama's private cell and bit her lip.

Would he even want to talk to her? Before she could talk sense into herself, she tapped the green phone button and put it on speaker, holding it as she waited with bated breath for her Nii-sama's deep, steady voice. By the sixth ring, Rukia's heart sunk and she ended the call, phone held tight in her small hand. She stared at it, willing it to ring, willing Nii-sama not to bed too mad at her. To not leave her alone again. Squeezing her eyes shut, she took long, deep breaths until her heart fluttered to a normal pattern. Breathing out one last time, she opened her eyes and lifted her phone. Unlocking her screen, she tapped Maps and waited until it loaded before she hit in: 'takeout near me'.

A lot of little red markers popped up and Rukia clicked through them until she found a decent place by the name of Urahara's Yum Yum Diner. She blinked at the name, finger hovering over the arrow to take her to the next one but her stomach rumbled and she clicked the phone. The number appeared on her call list and she clicked the dial button, putting it on speaker and letting the dull thud of rain and the ringing of the phone lull her anxiety. There was a click and she opened her mouth to state her address and ask for one of everything – there wasn't anything in the world a Kuchiki Credit Card couldn't afford – when a loud bang, crying, and a shout of, "Wait wait wait –" before the line disconnected.

She blinked at the phone in her hand, eyebrows furrowed, unsure if she had the right number. Her stomach gurgled again, this time followed by a pang, and she sighed. Clicking the number, she dialled again. This time it picked up on the second ring. "Ara ara, gomen gomen for the previous call. Name's Urahara of Urahara's Yum Yum Diner, how can I help you?"

His voice was friendly enough but the tone of it caused Rukia to grimace. Great, he was one of _those_ people. Sighing inwardly, she had just begun to order – "Seireitei University, Dorm 2, Room 342. I want –" – when, over the line, another loud bang followed by a shout was her only warning before the line went dead.

Gritting her teeth, she smashed the number in again and waited with a twitching eyebrow. When the same happy-go-lucky voice answered, she snapped, "Can I place my order this time?"

Urahara's chuckle was as annoying as his voice but he responded congenially. "Sure, sure. What is it you would like?"

She told him the order with no problems and he told her the estimate would be 15 minutes. She had looked incredulously at the time displayed on her phone – 5:15pm – but she didn't get the chance to call him out on the time being wrong before there was a strangled noise and the line went dead once more. Throwing her head back with a groan at the pounding in her skull, Rukia wondered what she did to deserve this karma. Lifting up her phone, she held it up to her eye level, tapping on her Chappy game but found her gaze drawn to the neatly made bed on the other side of the room. Strawberry's side was bereft of anything.

Except for a picture frame on the night stand. It was face down and Rukia bit her lip at the curiosity biting at her. She shouldn't look, really, it wasn't her business and that would be considered snooping and Kuchiki's didn't pry…..Rukia, however, had grown up in the Rukongai Foster Care system and all bets were off in that horrible place. Placing her phone on the bed, she threw her legs off the side and glanced at the door, warring with shame and curiosity before she decided it was only a picture frame. Tiptoeing to the stand, she lifted it enough to see the picture. Instantly, she pulled the picture upwards at the beautiful woman captured in time.

She had long, waist-length light brown hair twisted into a ponytail at the nape of her neck. It was tied back into a yellow ribbon and she was smiling with a wide, bright grin. Eyes the colour of a dark amber shone out at her and Rukia couldn't help but smile at the warmth in them. The woman was wearing a light yellow sundress with white sleeves, her arms behind her back and head tilted to the side slightly. She was beautiful and Rukia felt shame crawl into her gut but nothing compared to the mortification she felt when she heard the door open behind her.

There was a pause and then the door slammed shut. The anger that rolled off of him was thick and when his warmth prodded at her back, Rukia felt tears sting her eyes. His body was tense and it was trembling behind her in anger but before he could say anything, whatever was between them shattered, Rukia mumbled out, "She's beautiful."

Maybe it was the words or maybe it was the way she reverently, sadly, spoke them or possibly even the way she ran a small finger delicately over the smile through the glass of the frame but the anger rolling off him in waves quieted to a dull throb of misery and regret. He gently lifted a muscled arm and slid the frame out of her hands, setting it back face down on the stand. He could have moved from his spot behind her, his warmth soaking into her and making her heart pound. His palm fell flat against the night stand, holding him up behind her as his breath ruffled the very top of her hair and she flushed when she realized he was looking down at her.

She was afraid to look up and meet the expression he held but she didn't have to. His deep, rough timbre was low and quiet, tinged with the slamming of rain like the storm outside. "She was, yeah. She was beautiful. Inside and out."

Rukia looked at the frame, face down, and her eyes narrowed. Gracefully, she lifted the photo back up, setting it back so it stood on it's own, the woman's smiling face bringing warmth to the room. "You shouldn't hide it, fool."

He snorted at the word and she elbowed him in the gut – gently because even she had feelings – before spinning on her heel. She headed toward her bed to flop down but saw the coffee cup on the stand, almost empty, and paused. She hesitated in the room, hearing Strawberry fuss around in his bathroom and then the rustling of a towel against his soaked hair from the storm hailing down upon them from outside. She turned to thank him and then hide in the bathroom but there was a loud bang on their door that had her darting across the room, flinging him in front of her like a shield. He sputtered and dropped the towel to his shoulders, flailing his arms to keep his balance before one large hand grabbed her by the back of her purple Chappy shirt.

He lifted her until she was eye level with his glare before he tossed her toward the door. "You answer it, midget!"

She grabbed her flat off her foot and launched it, her aim true as Kuchiki's _never_ miss. It slammed into Strawberry's nose with a force that had him stumbling back and grappling as his nose began to slowly bleed.

Nodding in triumph, Rukia pulled the door open and blinked in surprise at what greeted her. A tall, dark skinned man was holding up four bags, two on each arm, with two kids arguing behind him. She looked up at him, his glasses glinting in the light, and he politely told her, "I'm Tessai, from Urahara's Yum Yum Shop. Good evening, Kuchiki-san. Your order is here and paid for."

She reached for the bags but two large arms above her grabbed them first and Strawberry's deep voice vibrated above her. "These bags probably weigh twice as much as you anyway."

She stomped on his foot behind her with a friendly, beaming smile at Tessai and both ignored the cursing man in the background as she bowed – elegant and graceful. Tessai gave a small head bow, grabbed the two arguing teens, and hauled them down the hallway just as she shut the door. She turned to find the bags on her bed and Strawberry lying on his side on his bed, facing the wall, eyes closed. The tense set of his jaw and tight shoulders told her he was awake.

She headed to the bags of food and grinned. Digging through them, she took out what she wanted, careful to set everything on her night stand and not her silk sheets. Once separated, she carried the two bags that were left over to the horrible fake-sleeping Strawberry, setting them down at the foot of his bed on his desk. As she moved back towards her own bed, she didn't turn but called back quietly, "Thanks. For the coffee. I'm Kuchiki, Rukia."

When there was no response forth coming, Rukia gave his back a firm glare and stomped to her bed. She settled back against the head board and put her phone on her knees, watching You-tube as she shovelled in the food she had ordered from Urahara's. Admittedly the food was really good, some of the best she had ever had, and she vowed to go down there one day in person to thank the Chef. She managed to eat through a whole bag and ¼ of the other before her belly was full enough. She looked at the bag as she paused the video she had been on, debating if she wanted to find the shared kitchen to put them in but also decided she was way too lazy.

Stretching her arms, she set her phone on the stand next to the food and curled up on top of her sheets, grabbing one of her Chappy pillows and snuggling into it. Just as her eyes closed, lightning flashed into the room and a gruff voice quietly replied, "Kurosaki, Ichigo."

For the first time in a long time, she faded into sleep with a smile on her face.

Every day for the rest week, she woke up to coffee on her night stand from Ichigo along with a handwritten, crude drawing – how dare he make fun of _her_ skills!? – that usually caused her to curse his name. In the evenings, she would order dinner for them from Urahara's – which had become not only her favourite but Ichigo's if his comment of, "It doesn't taste like shit and tastes better than you burning the Dorm kitchen down." was anything to go by. Over the week, she had studiously examined the entire Dorm, found all her classes and the luncheon, and had managed to avoid Grimmjow who was actively searching for her, scanning the halls and the courtyard any time she caught him in it.

She groaned in frustration at the laptop screen, giving it a firm glare like it was the laptop's fault her paper was due tomorrow and she had let it go until now. Tapping her fingers against the wood of the desk, her narrowed eyes only continued to stare at the half a page she had written. Groaning again in agitation, she leaned back in her chair and glared up at her new target: the ceiling. From behind there was a slam and then his deep, gruff voice penetrated the tense air of the room. "Damn it, midget, stop sighing! Some of us actually have term papers to complete!"

Spinning around so her legs straddled the chair, Rukia leaned her arms on the back of it and gave the back of Ichigo's orange mop of spiky hair a death glare that could have killed lesser individuals. "Shut it strawberry. Besides, we all know your brain doesn't work anyway."

"What!?"

Used to his outbursts, Rukia didn't even blink when his chair slammed backwards onto the carpet with a heavy thud and he stood to his full height, brown eyes narrowed on her. His fists were clenched and she grinned up at him, batting her eyelashes sweetly. "Don't know, must have the been wind. Oh, Ichigo, hearing things so early….."

He stalked towards her but she didn't flinch, smirk still in place as she shook her head, black hair swaying from the open windowed breeze that blew in. The chatter of students milling about in the courtyard invaded the air between them and Ichigo suddenly smirked, taunting as he crossed his arms and looked down his nose at her.

A confident Ichigo was never a _good_ Ichigo. Grin faltering, Rukia tried to prepare for his comeback. "Says the one who cuddles a childish Chappy pillow all night."

Oh, it was _on_ : no one insults Chappy and gets away with it! Without thinking, Rukia jumped up, her small feet landing on the seat of the chair as she lifted her face. She was nose to nose with the orange haired man as she glared at him and growled out, "You leave Chappy out of this you idiot! At least I'm not the one who likes strawberry pudding like a girl!"

Ichigo spluttered, his nose pressed against hers as he shouted back, "W-Wha – Strawberry pudding is not just for girls you moron! Has being so short fucked up your brain or something?"

Lifting her leg in a roundhouse kick, Rukia's foot planted directly into Ichigo's side below his ribs and the tall man, winded, bent at his waist and clutched his side. He looked up at her with blazing brown, squinted eyes at the pain as he gruffly shouted, "What the fuck was that for you crazy idiot!? You could have broken my ribs!"

Rukia grinned, retort on the tip of her tongue, when she felt her balance tipping forward. Seeing the carpet rush at you is scary and Rukia would utterly deny the squeak that she made as the chair tipped. Flailing her arms, she tried to right or catch herself but only succeeded in wobbling through the air. She squeezed her eyes shut but there was only a grunt and no pain. Unsure if she was in Heaven with her departed sister, she peeked first one violet orb open. Her gaze was met with a _very_ familiar naked male chest. Ichigo didn't like to wear a shirt constantly around their Dorm – "My room, my rules. Fuck off shorty." – and if Rukia were being honest, she didn't really mind it.

Right now, she _really_ didn't mind it. Kurosaki was tall and lean like a beanstalk – which she made sure to remind him of, rudely – but muscled in all the right places. Her face was pressed into his firm chest where she could smell his musky skin from his recent shower. Flushing a deep red, she found her hands tight between his arms wrapped around her. Her knees were on the floor and she could feel the throbbing from where she had hit the floor with them but all her attention was focused the moment those arms unwound from her and two large palms shoved her head up to look at him.

The warm, concerned gaze had her throat closing as his wide eyes roved her for injury. He was kneeling, his jeans hanging on his hips and showing off the label of his boxers. He had caught her with his chest and this was one of those things that happened that neither of them could really explain. She didn't bring it up and neither did he but despite their bantering, their arguing, their teasing, and the rather violent acts, the two of them had _something_ that flowed between them and connected them. There were unspoken rules in their Dormship – she refused to call it a relationship and he refused to call it a friendship so they were stuck with Dormship: Ichigo bought coffee for her every morning, she got dinner every night, they didn't invite people over without warning the other, and they argued.

These were things set in stone but there was something else, something less _tangible_ , that always echoed in every action and moment between them. It was there now and Rukia jerked away as if burned, standing to her feet and ignoring the throbbing of her knees. Turning to go to her bathroom, a large hand on the back of her calf made her nearly trip at the motion of him turning her. Her knees were level with his bent face and he stared hard at her legs. Looking down, Rukia winced at the damage. Okay so they were carpet burnt, scuffed, and a bit blistery but she was fine! She wasn't a damsel in distress!

Preparing to retort, she was silenced by the quiet tone of Ichigo's voice. "Damn it, Rukia, why do you have to be so reckless."

It wasn't a question and maybe it was the concern in his voice but Rukia let him lead her, gently and nothing like the Ichigo she knew, to her bed. He let her sit and headed straight for his own bathroom. She heard the rummaging and examined her knees as she waited, poking one and wincing at the sharp, burning pain in it. Her finger was swatted when he returned, a medical kit in one of his large hands. He set it on the ground and began the process of disinfecting and cleaning the wounds. It wasn't awkward but she felt something hanging between them, draped over them like a heavy fur coat.

She looked at his bright orange hair and smiled softly. "Thanks, Ichigo."

He grunted and she could see the beginnings of the red dusting his ears. Grinning, she poked fun at his embarrassment. "What, can't handle a little thanks? Is Ichigo actually turning red? Are you blushing? Let me take a picture!"

She wouldn't really take one but Ichigo's head snapped up, eyes already glaring. "Shut up midget!"

He tilted his head back down, mumbling, "I've got twin sisters and I'm used to taking care of them."

Rukia's smile softened as she thought of what she knew of Ichigo's family. After that first night, the smile of the woman in the photo was open and free but it was the one person he never really spoke of. But she had caught snippets of conversations when he had been on the phone in the room with his siblings and his father. Hell, he had been forced to put it on speaker when Rukia carried on conversations in what Ichigo deemed her 'Fake Schoolgirl Voice' to his family. The first time Kurosaki, Isshin had called her his third daughter, she had balked and panicked and slammed the hang up button.

The next two times and she begrudgingly realized she liked his family. By the last time – that morning – she had heard it, it hadn't even been second thought in her mind. Karin and Yuzu were sweet and liked hearing Rukia tease Ichigo and share embarrassing stories – "Did you know he almost walked to his morning class in his boxers when he forgot to put on pants?"; "Rukia!" Mostly, Rukia loved the close bond they had together and the love she could feel from them for each other made her heart swell.

She felt him wrap the gauze around her left knee as she bit her lip, trying not let her shoulders drop as she remembered one crucial fact: she had not gotten a hold of Byakuya. She had left on bad terms and there had been things said that had hurt them both. She had thought things would be okay but every time she called, his phone only rang or it went straight to voicemail. She glanced over at the large Chappy bunny Ichigo had given her – a gift from his sisters which had melted her heart – and remembered all the nights spent up crying long after Ichigo had fallen asleep. The nights she had nightmares of Byakuya leaving her and abandoning her back to Rukongai's Foster system.

As soon as Ichigo's touched faded from her skin, she watched him place the medical kit back together and lift it to carry it back to the bathroom. Flopping back onto the bed, she made sure her skirt was tucked between her legs to prevent flashing Ichigo before flinging her arms out wide. Her eyelids fell as she gazed at the ceiling above her bed, traced the lines of the memories with Ichigo she shared in this room. All the little moments and the big ones, all the playful arguments, the teasing name-calling, and all the precious memories made her body feel warm and heavy, violet orbs being encased by snow white lids.

As her eyes fell closed, there was the touch of something soft and fluffy against her skin and the feeling of being weightless before the backs of her legs met cool silk. She dozed to the tapping of keys and something heavy hanging between her and her room-mate. When she woke, she blinked her blue orbs slowly to clear the weariness that had settled over her. Seeing the bright, soft pink of the Chappy bunny cuddled in her arms, she smiled wide and buried her face in it's plushie body. Squeezing the rabbit to her, she took a deep breath of the smell of the Kurosaki home, finding a peace in a place and in people she had never met: the warm, sweet smell of _home_ , something Kuchiki, Rukia couldn't find in the cold, hard walls of the Kuchiki name or the ruthless, dark memories of Rukongai.

Yawning, Rukia gave one last, hard squeeze of the soft plushie in her arms before she pushed it towards the wall. She put her elbows on the silk of her sheets to lift herself up and froze when a blanket she didn't recognize the feel of brushed against the skin that had been exposed on her waist and her belly. Nimble fingers reached for the soft, fuzzy blanket as she brought the blanket up to her chin, cuddling into it's warmth. Taking a deep breath, sleep rushed out of her when the musky smell of Ichigo nestled against her.

She glanced over at his empty bed and the empty desk, feeling a pang at his missing presence. Eyes wide, she tossed the blanket in a rolled up heap over to his bed as her heart pounded at the realization of what she had just felt, shaking her head roughly to clear her mind. She threw her legs off the side of her bed and smiled when she saw her pink Chappy slippers waiting for her. Snorting out a laugh she couldn't help the mumble that left her. "You sensitively considerate fool."

Slipping her sockered feet into the slippers made her sigh at the softness. She stood and stretched, looking out the window from her one cracked eye. The bright, morning sun had dropped to sometime after midday and when she leaned over towards her night stand at her phone, she saw that the time was 2:13pm. The Sun was still burning bright and there was no breeze, only a static humidity that made her feel too hot. Blowing at the strand of black hair that fell over the bridge of her nose, she walked to the little, square thermostat near the coat rings they had placed behind the door. Scrolling the knob, she set it for cool and shivered instantly at the burst of cold air from the vent by the door.

Padding to her phone, she lifted it up and swiped the screen. The image that greeted her made her chest tighten and her heart ache. She frowned down at the picture she had snapped of Nii-sama out in the gardens, head tilted to the sky and eyes closed. It was the most peaceful she had ever seen him and she had snapped it weeks before she left, determined to leave with a piece of the one who had saved her from her lonely isolation. His pale, sharp features greeted her and she felt her violet eyes prick with tears. She hadn't spoken to him since their argument and the fact he wouldn't answer her calls made the ache inside of her claw at her heart.

Sighing, she pressed the phone icon at the bottom of her screen and tapped in the Reception's number before pulling the phone to her ear. As she waited for it to ring Rukia paced towards the tall, black stereo system Ichigo had had installed next to his desk. It was shiny and still smelled like new plastic and metal as she pressed the smooth Power button. She turned the dial to a lower volume – Ichigo had to blast it to hear it because she honestly believed he was so tall his hearing couldn't reach normal level – as she listened to the phone ring steadily in her ear.

She turned the tune button to her favourite pop station with a smirk, knowing when Ichigo next turned the stereo on to blast his rock it would be her music – and the thought delighted her. David Archuleta's pop song, Crush, came on and Rukia smiled as she swayed to the music in the room, humming along and moving to the beat. When the phone clicked, a familiar chirpy voice chimed into her ear. "Reception! How can I help you?"

Rukia's smile brightened as she told the girl she had become friends with over the course of the week. "Hey, Orihime, it's Rukia!"

She could feel her friend radiating through the phone as she spoke quickly in her excitement. "Oh, Rukia-chan, hi! How are you? Did you find all your classes okay? I'm sooooo sorry about the room –"

Bobbing her head to the music, Rukia leaned over with her shoulder holding the phone to her ear as she moved around the room to the song playing from the speakers. She knew if she didn't stop Orihime the girl could ramble for hours. "Yes, I found everything okay, thanks! Actually, I'm calling about the room. Are there any singles available yet?"

There was a pause and before she even spoke, Rukia knew the answer. "I'm sorry, Rukia-chan. But there aren't any rooms available yet. You've called all this week and I'm sorry to keep having to let you down…."

Rukia's smile dimmed but she waved off Orihime's dejection even though the girl couldn't see it. "No no, thank you Orihime, you've been a great help!"

"Ano, Rukia-chan, can I….Ask you something?"

Hearing the usually chirpy, upbeat receptionist speak quietly through Rukia off and she found curiosity seeping into her skin. "Sure, what is it?"

There was a slight pause and then, as if to make sure she said it, Orihime's voice came out in a panicked rush and as the words registered in her mind, Rukia ignored the whispering green fangs that bit into her. She ignored the pestering ache in her chest and the tight coil that wound in her gut but the words stayed stuck in her mind. "Is it really that bad with Kurosaki-kun? I-I mean not that I think he's a delinquent or anything. I really don't! And he's really good looking and I knew him in high school and I've had the biggest crush on him….But a-anyway, eto, is it really…..That bad? I mean, if a room becomes available, I'll call you! Right away!"

Rukia's swaying came to a halt until she stood in the middle of their shared room, the walls of their space suddenly much too small and much too close to her, looming above her with Orihime's words scattered throughout. Her shoulders dropped as she stood in the room, hands at her sides curling inward and outward, gaze blank as she stared out the arched window at the slowly falling Sun.

She swallowed past the thick knot in her throat, lifting a hand to grip the phone so it wouldn't fall as she forced a smile and brought out the Ichigo coined 'Fake Schoolgirl Voice'. "Oh, no, Ichigo is fine! I just want a single room as soon as possible. I like my privacy after all! I didn't know you went to school with him, he….." She paused and forced the words from her lips, unsure what the feeling clawing inside of her was. "He doesn't mention it! But thank you, Orihime! I'll see you in a couple of days when I go to my next Business class!"

Orihime chuckled a bit in nervousness, her laugh sounding a bit off and strained as she realized something was wrong with her friend. "Uh, hai! Yes, of course! I'll see you later, Rukia-chan! Mata ne!"

Rukia waited until she heard the click of the phone in her ear before she tossed it to her bed with a flick of her wrist, sighing as she placed a small hand on the warm glass of the open window. A small, humid breeze blew in and ruffled her hair, brushing against the ruffled shirt she wore that had a sheer train in the back. Her black leggings were fitted but breathable and the breeze felt good despite the humidity hanging in the air. She stood at the window until the Sun was setting over the Campus, the orange rays being chased by the darkness of night. Her ankles and her feet were numb and her legs ached from standing still at the window for so long.

The stereo dimly belted out more pop music in the background and so focused on the changing sky, she never noticed the door opening behind her or the tall, weary body that stumbled through the door. The orange, pink, and yellow rays of the sunset faded into a pale purple and light blue that finally melted into the dark blue of the night sky. As the sun blinded her, she held a hand up to block out the light when a warm body stepped up behind her. The heat of the skin and the musky smell that brushed into her nose from the breeze alerted her to his presence and she fought back the pain in her chest.

"I don't like sunsets."

Rukia raised a small eyebrow but kept her gaze on the Sun falling below the buildings. "Hm, not very poetic for someone who admires Shakespeare."

He nudged her upper back with an elbow. "Can it midget. What are you doing over here anyway? Can you even _see_ the sunset?"

"Can you see past the glare of your hair, strawberry?"

She could feel his glare burn through the top of her head as she stared out at the setting sun. "Do you need a step stool because I'm pretty sure my sisters used to use one when they were 6 –"

She whirled and stomped on his black sock covered foot. He yelped and grabbed his foot with his hands, hopping away before she could shoulder past him to her bed where her phone lie on the purple silk and pink cherry blossom comforter. She grabbed her phone and turned, giving Ichigo a happy, beaming grin and her middle finger before dialling the number she knew by heart.

It only rang once before a chuckling voice happily answered. "Why hello Rukia, right on time! Your usual order?"

The tight ball in her chest loosened after her bantering with Ichigo and she looked back at the orange haired man. He was grumbling and leaning over his desk, tapping a few keys on his laptop. She smiled softly at the back of his head before turning back to Urahara. "Not tonight, Kisuke. Make it special. And lots of sauce!"

Kisuke laughed through the phone and then his teasing tenor made her roll her eyes. "Ohhhh~ and what's the occasion?"

"Aren't you the owner? Don't you have a business to run?"

He hummed in thought for a moment. "Yes yes, you're right. Alright, one special order. Be there quickly. Oh! And Rukia?"

At the sudden drop of his tone, Rukia felt his stomach flip. Out of all the times she had ordered from Urahara's and spoken to Kisuke – the owner – she had never heard him speak like this. "Yes?"

"I thought it was a fluke the first time it happened so I didn't mention it and this last order wasn't too big but," He paused and Rukia's heart plummeted at his next words. "Your credit card has been declining the last two orders."

She wanted to cry but Kuchiki's – No, Rukia doesn't cry. Taking a deep breath, she swallowed past the acidic burn of hot tears in the back of her throat. "I'm sorry, Kisuke, I'll pay you back right away. You can cancel the order, then. I'm sorry for wasting your time."

"Rukia. This order is on me. You're one of my favourite customers." His voice was soothing and gentle but it did nothing to ease the cold ache in her heart. "Don't worry about it! Tessai will be with you with your order soon, okay?"

Rukia mumbled her goodbye and closed her eyes, hand squeezing her phone tight as it dropped to her side. Her eyebrows squeezed together as she pushed past the tears and the heartache. Deep inside her frozen heart, a snowy blizzard began, coating her heart in ice and snow. The moment a large, warm hand gently wrapped around her arm, her eyes snapped open at the sudden bright, white hot fire that burned away the blizzard of her heart like a Sun. She looked over her shoulder after steeling herself to find Ichigo looking down at her. His expression made her stomach flip. His eyebrows were scrunched inward leaving behind tight wrinkles and his mouth was in a slanted frown.

The cloudy glint in his brown gaze alerted her before his voice even spoke that he knew something was wrong. "Hey, you okay?"

Those words – she wouldn't dare admit it was the fact that he had _noticed_ her behind her wall of ice – struck her and shattered her. She pushed past him, stare trained to the carpet as she strode towards his bed. Internally, she demanded herself to rebuild her Kuchiki walls, to hide behind the icy wall of her heart, and when Rukia looked back at Ichigo, his frown only deepened. "Dinner will be here soon."

She settled atop his bed, fluffing the pillows behind her, next to the wall. Her violet blue gaze fixed on the motionless plasma TV hung up on the wall across from Ichigo's bed where they had spent the last week eating dinner and watching TV together. Hesitation rolled off Ichigo's body like the waves of the ocean and she sighed, rolling her eyes heavenward and patting the bed next to her. "Are you stupid or slow or both?"

The crease of his eyebrows faded to be replaced by angry, sharp lines as he prepared to shout, taking in a lungful of air, when the three raps by Kisuke's cane echoed into the tense room. Rukia's lips curled into a smirk as she looked at him out the corner of her eye in the way he hated. With a growl he spun, fists clenched and shoulders hunched, to answer the door, almost tearing it off the hinges. Ichigo stepped into the doorway, the door held open by one of his feet as he spoke – gruffly and like a buffoon with no manners – to their delivery guests. She couldn't hear the words but when a pang of anxiety struck her, she knew very well what conversation they were having. Sighing, she pulled her knees up and stared at the door, waiting for Ichigo with an icy heart and walls, prepared to fight if necessary.

When he popped back in, bags on his arms and the door shut behind him, he dropped the bags on the ground and Rukia didn't have time to cry out – how dare he waste that food the idiot! – before Ichigo's large, warm body leaned towards her. For someone so big, the idiot could move quick. His hands were on the bed, pressing large palms into the soft comforter. His long digits were slightly dug into the blanket like he was holding himself back. He had one knee on the bottom of the bed, the other with his foot against the floor to hold him up. Both of his hands were nearly equal with her hips and when she glanced quickly down at them, she had the thought that those hands could grip her hips and break them in seconds.

Gaze flicking back up, she met his orange fringe. The orange – natural, they had had many fights about it until he had called his Dad and she had heard it from his Father who had then proceeded to tell her how he wanted grandchildren with the same hair before Ichigo ended the call – hair fell over his face, hiding his own brown eyes from her sight. She felt a prick of unease in her chest at the thought that she couldn't see his eyes. Ichigo was expressive by nature – explosive if their arguments were anything to go by and Rukia would never admit to how much she actually liked them – and the fact he wasn't allowing himself to be now made her unease slowly crawl into apprehension.

Her mind flashed back to the quiet conversation outside the door she couldn't hear and she grit her jaw, preparing to lie or just do something to get him to quit, well, _not_ looking at her. But Ichigo's deep voice vibrated quietly into the room and Rukia found her jaw clicking shut before she knew she had even done it. "Don't – Just…..Don't."

She could feel his hot breath ghosting over her knees through her leggings and she bit her lip at the sensation it left behind. She wanted to run her fingers through those orange locks and she had to dig her hands into the blanket under her to keep from touching him. What was wrong with her? She used to be so in control of her life, the Kuchiki sister of the Kuchiki family who was as cold as ice. Yet, here she was, defeated by the simple fact she couldn't see one boy's eyes and his hair looked too soft to touch. When had their arguing become a friendly reminder that he was _there_? When had this, whatever it was, developed between them?

And why did it feel so _right_? She blinked quickly to dispel the tears of frustration and failure before snapping out quietly, "Are you going to say anything or just lean over me like an uncivilized monkey?"

The only response was a tightening of his back and Rukia fell quiet, realizing he wasn't going to respond. Her hands shook, clutched into Ichigo's blanket, and just as she was about to explode and kick him in the chin, his voice rumbled forward. "Why didn't you fucking tell me?"

He lifted his head and she wished he hadn't, wished she could still see the soft orange strands of his hair instead of the hard, glinting steel that surrounded the hurt in his eyes. His furrowed eyebrows were softer but she could see the way those brown irises reflected the hurt like glass, the shards digging into her skin. His adam's apple bobbed when he swallowed and Rukia tried to fly behind her wall of ice but his brown orbs burned away everything until she was left facing a Black Sun.

He wasn't angry, he was hurt, but something else lingered in his gaze. Rukia couldn't place it before he spoke again. "I don't mind paying for dinner."

"But you pay for my coffee in the morning." She blurted out.

Ichigo's mouth opened and those eyebrows dug further into his forehead. "What? What does that have to do with dinner?"

Kicking herself for bringing it up, Rukia sighed and mumbled, staring at her knees. "I wanted to pay for dinner since you paid for the coffee. Kuchiki's do not leave debts –"

"Who the fuck is a Kuchiki?"

Rukia felt her anger bubbling and snapped her head up to scream at him – how can you not know, you have to know, the chains that drag behind her he must see….! – but all the words in her mouth dissolved instantly at the look Ichigo was giving her. It was a mix of emotions and her heart lurched into her throat. Confidence surged outward, like he knew what he was saying would rile her in the way that drove her crazy. Hurt still lingered at the edges of his dark gaze but it was the bright, warm affection she had wanted all her life swirling in his brown gaze that had her blown away.

"I don't see no Kuchiki here." His eyes softened and she thought if they got any more soft, she would sink into them. She felt something shift next to her before the broad palm to her right lifted to cup her jaw, his thumb brushing sparks against her cheek and dancing electricity over her skin. Slowly, as if forgotten how, the corners of his lips lifted and Rukia's breath halted at the small, genuine smile of the Sun burning into her. "I see Rukia."

She had never felt more alive. Her body thrummed to life like bees darting beneath her skin. She felt weightless with the surge of affection for Ichigo and her lips curled in an imitation of his own smile. Her heart thumped noisely in her chest, rattling around in the confines of her chest, the Kuchiki name in ruins beneath it. Her blood pumped with a loud whoosh into her head as she felt it flood to her cheeks, dusting across her pale skin, and Ichigo's smile turned roguish at the sight. She narrowed her violet orbs at him in warning but knew it held no glare. Somehow, this boy had slipped right into her life. The puzzle piece that was Kurosaki, Ichigo had shoved and pushed until their ends matched and now she wasn't sure what the picture of her life was supposed to be. Before him, she had always known what it was: live up to the Kuchiki name, do not disappoint her Nii-sama, earn a degree in business, take over the Kuchiki company.

Now? As she stared hard at the man before her, she felt she hadn't really know what living was before. She turned her head, lips dancing over the rough skin of Ichigo's palm and she felt him tense, heard the hitch of his breath. With a smirk, she nipped the underside of his thumb and he flung his hand back with a yelp. She shouted and dove for him when he began to teeter on the edge of the bed but she wasn't quick enough. Ichigo tumbled, orange hair flying, to the floor of their apartment, banging his head on the stereo system on the way down with a curse. Wincing, she crawled to the edge of the bed and peeked over, her violet blue orbs the only thing visible.

Ichigo was sprawled rather haphazardly over the floor with his arms at odd angles, one leg twisted and the other straight up against the bottom of the bed. His head was still on the stereo system's metal frame and he glared up at her with dark, burning brown eyes. That gaze captured her and drew her in. She was the Moon and Ichigo was the Sun; somehow, they were meant to coexist and though she didn't understand anything about it, she knew, looking into those eyes, they were connected by something neither of them could see. The thought scared her. If she couldn't see it then how could she defend her heart from it? How could she stop him from turning her whole life upside down? How did she stop him when she wanted to let him _ruin_ her until she was bare of everything but her soul?

Her sheepish expression must have melted into her thoughts because Ichigo's firm glare lifted and he was staring up at her from the floor with something akin to irritation. But the lines on his face were softer.

He sighed loudly as he sat up, straightening his lanky limbs and jabbing a finger into her face. "That's it. From now on, all your opinions are rejected!"

Rukia blinked slowly, comprehension a long way off because there was no way in hell that stupid strawberry had said what she heard. Sitting up on her forearms and her elbows, Rukia narrowed her eyes at him, anger darkening her voice. "You can't just proclaim that like you're some hero who saved the damsel in distress! I can say what I want you illiterate fool."

Ichigo climbed to his feet, turning his back on her and heading to the discarded bags of food by the door and hefting them up onto his arms. When he turned again, he was smirking that infuriating grin that left Rukia feeling both helpless and pulled to respond to his teasing with her own. As he piled the bags on the floor by the foot of his bed, he responded. "Whoever takes you will give you back, midget. You aren't worth kidnapping."

Growling, she lunged forward and smacked him on his orange head with her palm – and his hair _was_ as soft as it looked. "That's rude! There are plenty of people who would want to kidnap me!"

Rubbing the back of his aching head, Ichigo looked up at her with a scowl. His brown gaze was teasing and light but his expression carried a hint of concern as he both seriously and jokingly told her, "I don't know who would want a tiny, evil, violent midget –"

He caught her hands this time when she went to pummel him with both of her fists and suddenly, the air dropped and electricity sparked between them. Her wrists were burning from where his long, rough fingers were wrapped around them and the heat of his body was seeping into her own. Her heart ached numbly for something she couldn't name and didn't understand as she looked in wide eyed awe at Ichigo. His orange head was tilted down, looking at where he had her wrists loosely gripped in his hands to where they had fallen between them when the tension had crashed down on them.

He squeezed a bit tighter and instead of pain, all Rukai could feel was the warmth of Ichigo. When he lifted his head, his brown eyes gazed up at her from beneath his orange fringe, steady and serious and so _Ichigo_ that she felt her heartbeat increase erratically until she feared it might burst from her chest.

His voice was deep and gruff but there was a softer, huskier tone and she couldn't ignore the serious heat in his words. "But it don't matter. Because I would save you. I would-I'd, you know, I'd come for you. Because you may be an evil and violent dwarf of the human race," She fought against the smile threatening her lips and the urge to insult him. "But you're Rukia. And I would save you."

Staring into the serious heat in his gaze she believed him, with everything inside of her, she knew this man would save her. Cheeks flushing, she tore her wrists away with an awkward laugh, inwardly wincing at the loud sound, before she turned to the edge of the bed and grabbed a bag, pulling it up as she told him, "Not like anyone really wants to harm me anyway! I mean, my Nii-sama's company has rivals but they wouldn't be stupid enough so forget it. Besides," Rukia grinned over at him as she began pulling styrofoam containers out of the bag she had grabbed. "You would make a terrible, reckless hero."

Ichigo grunted, the moment dissolving between awkward sentences and teasing insults, as he climbed up onto the bed next to her, closer to the edge. He sat cross legged and took some of the containers she offered him before she leaned down to grab the next one.

As she grabbed the large, white plastic bag she heard him mumble, "If they can find your short ass. Which is probably easy because no one is as short as you."

She turned, eyes closed and smile burning fake and sweet and dangerous, and she valued that she heard him swallow thickly at the look as she told him in her high pitched, fake voice she used. "What was that, Ichigo-kun?"

He shuddered at the name and she opened her eyes, fake smile still in place, to find him glaring at her, arms crossed his chest defiantly. "I said, you deaf midget, that you're too fucking short and whoever wanted to find you would pass you over."

Sighing and clicking her tongue, Rukia scooted over towards Ichigo and, mimicking him earlier, leaned forwards. She leaned on her hands and had to crane her neck up to look up into his surprised face as she smiled wide. Caught off guard, Ichigo didn't see the pillow she had slowly grabbed with one of her hands until it was too late. The black of his pillow whopped him in the face and Rukia leaned back, grinning, as he grabbed and pulled the pillow from his face. The strands of orange hair over his eyes were lifted to the pillow from the static and seeing his hair up at all odd angles made her stomach flutter with humor as she snorted, raising a hand to her mouth to prevent the giggles building into her throat.

Taking a moment to look between her and the black pillow he clutched with his hand, when he faced her, his smirk was devious and predatory and her stomach dropped as she realized what he planned. "Ichigo, no, don't you fucking dare –"

She screamed and hurtled off the bed as he lunged for her, pillow in his hand. When she reached her own bed, holding onto the frame and spinning to face him, she thought she had won. Oh, how wrong she was. Ichigo was a sore loser and instead of leaving it, he was running straight at her with that smirk that made her stomach flip. She shouted curses and insults at him as she darted through their small room to avoid the pillow being swung at her. It wasn't until she felt an arm clamp around her waist that she looked down and felt heat pool in her gut. A strong, lean arm wrapped around her middle, pulling her back into a solid chest and abs she could feel beneath his shirt. His arm was loose and Ichigo wouldn't hurt her for the world – if his declaration had been anything to go by – but he was using enough strength to hold her feet off the ground by a couple of inches.

She dangled against his arm, hands lifting to grasp at the taut muscles beneath her fingertips. She didn't have time to think of anything else before she found her face full of a black pillow. Squealing, she wiggled in Ichigo's hold, knowing she could throw him off if she moved around more. His arm tightened and Rukia giggled at the feeling of his arm brushing against her ribs and tickling her. He seemed to realize this and lifted his other hand to dance his fingers along her side. Struggling in earnest, Rukia bit her lip to keep the giggles buried in her throat as she swung both feet up then back like you would on a swing. On the backward swing of her legs, she curled her feet and both of them landed solidly against both of Ichigo's knees.

He grunted and then cursed, his hold loosening and Rukia pushed out of his hold on her, the pillow falling to the floor as she spun and pointed a victorious finger at him. He was holding both of his knees with both of his palms and glaring up at her but there was a remanent of a smile at the corner of his lips as she spouted off, "Ha! I, Kuchiki Rukia, have beaten you, Kurosaki, Ichigo. Now, you must go buy ice cream for the victorious Queen!"

Sputtering, Ichigo lifted to his full height, brown gaze disbelieving as he stared her down. "W-What? The fuck, midget? I didn't even know we were fighting for ice cream or I would have gone all out on you!"

She curled her hands to her chest and turned her body away, looking at him with fake watery eyes and a pout as she whimpered. "You would dare harm a lady? For ice cream?"

She watched as he mumbled under his breath and headed for the hook behind the door for his keys. She grinned but the grin faded at his parting words. He had opened the door and paused, looking back at her with mischief flicking in his eyes like a flame. "I'll let you know when I see a lady around but everything is fair in love and war, midget."

His chuckle as he heard her slipper hit the door behind him was well worth it. As she retrieved her fallen weapon and slipped it back on her foot, she had to wonder which they were playing at: love or war?

Which one did she _want_ it to be?

That night, two weeks later, was still unspeakable to them both. They avoided it like the plague for fear of combusting into flames on the spot. Rukia bit her lip as she scribbled into her notebook the words from her Professor as her thoughts danced idly behind her lids. She loved Professor Ukitake. He was always kind and friendly and not just to her, but to everyone, and she admired his inner strength. She looked up, distracting herself from her thoughts, to watch him write on the chalkboard. His long white hair was pulled into a ponytail at the nape of his neck and trailed down to nearly the black and white checker floor.

Unlike most of her other professors, especially the business ones, he was not wearing a suit. Instead, he graced them all with a loosely fitted white v-neck, button up shirt that had the top three buttons left open, the sleeves rolled up to his elbows. His usual black trench coat was draped over the large, wooden chair behind his desk where an assortment of photos, his laptop, and papers were messily scattered around. His shirt was tucked into a pair of black jeans that hung messily off his body like they were too big. And unlike most of the other staff, he didn't wear sharp black shoes. Ukitake was a simple man, Rukia had come to realize, when she noted he was wearing only thin, wooden sandals.

His feet clopped around the room where he turned to face his students, green gaze penetrating despite his friendly smile. When the orbs landed on Rukia, his gaze seemed to soften and he gestured for her to stand. Scooting her chair back, the Kuchiki heir stood, hands clasped in front of her and eyes trained on her professor. But it was still impossible not to hear the whispers scattering throughout the classroom.

 _"I bet she gets everything handed to her."_

 _"Must be nice to ride a rich family's coattails to the top unlike the rest of us who actually have to work for it."_

 _"What is she even doing here? Can't her precious family just promote her?"_

 _"I bet she sleeps with the professors, the little bitch."_

Rukia grit her jaw but didn't dare show the insults hurt her – how could they when she was made of ice? – as Ukitake's gaze narrowed and swept over the room. It grew silent as he gestured to Rukia with a thin, pale hand. "Can you tell me the answer, Rukia-chan?"

Clearing her throat quietly, she stood tall and declared loudly what she had written in her notebook moments before, the answer to the business merger her professor had just been talking about. The room grew cold and silent, heavy, when Ukitake smiled proudly and nodded. His green gaze raked over the room again, a warning clear, and when she sat down the room remained silent. The only sounds were Ukitake's voice as he spoke, the squeak of the chalk on the chalkboard, the scribbling of pens and tapping of laptops, and the simultaneous breathing of the students. She focused on the lesson, keeping her mind off the eyes she could still feel burning into her.

So focused on ignoring her classmates, she nearly screamed when the door burst open. Even Ukitake jumped, unprepared for the intrusion. Standing in the doorway with his hands in his black knee-length shorts and orange shirt was Ichigo. His brown, narrow gaze was searching and when it landed on her, his frown deepened. There was a message in those eyes, in the lines of his face, but he turned to Ukitake before she could catch it and proclaimed, "Stealing the midget. She's excused. Family matters."

Dread filled her as she thought of her Nii-sama waiting in the reception hall to tell her she was no longer his family, that he had still not accepted her calls because he hated her. Swallowing past the painful knot lodged in her throat, Rukia exhaled shakily and called on all the power she had to stand tall and proud. She grabbed her bag from the floor, piled her books and laptop into it, and threw it over her shoulder. Gliding around the desks, her blue gradient summer dress swished behind her as she pushed past Ichigo and out of the classroom with a quick head bow to Ukitake. She heard Ichigo curse before his presence towered next to her as they walked the hall of the Business Major building.

His frame was tall and his shadow fell over her as they walked down the meticulous and drab hall. Unlike the rest of the University, the Business building was built like an office with sparse decorations, small windows, and simple designs. She looked at the plain white walls as they passed through the hall, heading past many doors. Some of the ones that were cracked had the droning of voices from professors in class fill the quiet between her and Ichigo as they approached the double glass doors straight ahead of them. She could see the windowed tunnel that would lead them all the way to the second floor of the reception lobby where most of the counsellor, advisor, and financial consultants had offices.

She glanced up from behind her black hair with raised eyebrows at the tall man slouched next to her, curious as to why he had chosen this route. Surely her Nii-sama would not be waiting here. Sighing in frustrated confusion, she lifted a hand to push at the glass door in front of her. It slid open quietly as she and Ichigo stepped into the cool, carpeted offices above the reception lobby. Her eyes darted around, looking for her Nii-sama's tall frame and the traditional kenseiken he wore in his long black hair. Not seeing any hints, Rukia finally caved.

She looked up at Ichigo who kept his eyes trained on where they were walking, suspicion bubbling in her gut. "What family matters, exactly?"

Ichigo didn't look down but his hunched shoulders tightened and he puckered his lips slightly as he mumbled out, "I never said your family."

Rukia's strangled shout had a few heads popping out from behind the cubicles to their right and Ichigo hastily assured them they were fine. The suspicious stares drilled into the students but Ichigo wasted no time and grabbed Rukia's arm, dragging her into the elevator they had come to with him. Leaning back against the shimmering silver of the elevator's decorated wallpaper, Ichigo's free hand loosely rubbed the back of his neck as he still refused to look toward her. Crossing her arms over her chest, Rukia glared at him and took delight in the sweat dotting his forehead.

"So what? I skip class because you're having a mental break down?"

Finally, easing into territory they both knew, Ichigo felt comfortable enough to give her a glare and the suspicious twisting of her gut eased when he finally looked at her. She could always trust those brown eyes, they didn't lie.

He glared down at her, eyebrows furrowed, as he told her, "My family you dense little –"

Spluttering and wrapping his arms around his middle where Rukia had sucker punched him in the gut and was grinning over at him, batting her eyelashes sweetly, Ichigo glared up at her. "What's wrong, Ichigo-kun? Stomach ache?"

He grunted and lifted himself back to his usual height, rubbing his stomach with one hand as he felt the veins in his forehead pop. "It ain't my fault you're dense. You didn't have to hit me you crazy midget!"

She raised a fist threateningly and he glowered but didn't say anything else. She grinned, leaning her hands back on the silver banister attached to the back of the elevator, gripping it tight as she remembered Ichigo's words. His family not hers. Turns out, Byakuya didn't want to see her after all. A pit of despair opened inside of her belly as her heart gave a painful thump. Why was Rukia never good enough? She always had to be better, do better, in order to please everyone around her. The strap of her messenger bag chose that moment to slip off her shoulder and she scrambled to catch it. Ichigo lunged forward and caught her laptop, balancing it dangerously between his hands like a hot potato.

He handed it over and bent down to pick up her books without a word however her papers were scattered everywhere and Rukia's eyes widened comically when saw exactly what those papers were. She rushed to stop him but Ichigo had already picked one up, turned it over, and they both froze. Rukia had one arm dangling out uselessly in an effort to stop Ichigo and he was bent on one knee, her books and the offending paper sitting atop them on his lifted leg. A dark red flush seeped into her skin as she sharply withdrew her hand, clenching both of them into fists at her side. Her mouth was slightly parted and tilted down in a grimace, her eyes still comically wide.

At first, there was nothing but the sound of the elevator whirring down to the first floor and then, from between his lips, came the dreaded sound of a blown out laugh. Ichigo held Rukia's drawing up for her to see, as if it wasn't bad enough that she already knew he had seen it. On the crisp, white paper Rukia had – beautifully, she might add! – drawn her pummelling her own varied version of Ichigo. Their alter egos were chibi and didn't truly resemble themselves completely – she had done so in case he had caught her drawing she could deny it was him she was drawing being beaten to death.

Rukia's drawn figure wore a kimono with ice, a large white ribbon tied in the shape of a butterfly's wings, and Ichigo was wrapped up to his nose in gray bandages, covered in shadows that moved and twisted with him. He held the paper up and wiggled it, grinning as he gazed up at her from his bent position.

And she wished she was lying when she felt her breath leave her at the playful expression. Sure, they teased and bantered and argued all the time – never serious – but this was a different Ichigo, an Ichigo that took her breath straight out of her lungs. She stomped her foot and held her hand out petulantly. "Give them back!"

He didn't tease her and even handed over her books so she could put them in her bag but he kept the picture, bending down to gather the rest into his hands. Her mortification grew as he looked at each one, examining it and chuckling every now and then when he found one funny. Embarrassment growing, Rukia wasn't sure she had ever felt her cheeks be so hot. Just as he stood to his feet and dusted off the knee that had been on the carpet, he turned to her and Rukia looked up, prepared to berate and shout and do what they always did – it was easier to hide behind their banter than acknowledge what lied behind it – but her heart flew into her throat as all her words fell off the tip of her tongue to the floor beneath her.

His smile was broad and playful, warm, and nothing like the scowling man she had come to know. His lips would twitch occasionally into a smile but this wasn't a smile: it was something else. It warmed her from her toes to the top of her head, flooding her and washing away everything but his own radiant smile. He held the drawings out to her and she lifted a hand, scared to touch them, but found her lips curling upwards anyway. She took the papers just as the elevator chimed and the doors slide open quietly. Stuffing the papers into her bag, she followed Ichigo out of the elevator, looking at his broad back as she trailed behind him.

Looking at his large back as they walked into the bright lobby of the reception area, she was reminded of that night two weeks ago and she felt her face darken. She trailed behind him, lost in thought to the memory that had been branded into her mind. When Ichigo had returned that night, they had stayed up late, sitting on his bed and laughing at the comedy show they had agreed on. She remembered it as if it had happened only last night. The sound of the comedian as he joked, Ichigo's deep chuckles vibrating the bed, one arm laced back behind her but not over her shoulders in the cheesy romantic way. It was just _there_ and Rukia had paid it no mind – only thinking on it later – instead shovelling the candies instead of ice cream Ichigo had brought back into her mouth.

Every now and then, they would throw a teasing insult back and forth or argue over something stupid – "Rukia, damn it, how many times do I have to tell you, pinching is not the right way to get my attention!" – and the night had wore on in their usual manner. At 2am, Rukia had felt her eyes slipping closed and thought that she should climb into her own bed. Being a humid night, Ichigo was left in only his boxers and shirtless, a fact Rukia had told him annoyed her and he had attempted to shove his chest in her face.

When he couldn't breathe through the punch she had delivered to his ribs, he hadn't tried again. But that had been earlier and she was just so tired now. Vaguely, she thought she heard him mumble something about crossing boundaries and god damn midgets before her eyes had slipped closed. Needless to say, that morning had been their most awkward since sharing the dorm together. Sunlight had splayed across her closed lids as she cuddled into the warmth next to her, her arms curled into her chest and knees pulled up slightly, resting against something sharp and firm.

She had slipped her eyes open sleepily and yawned, all the breath catching in her chest at the sight that greeted her. The first thing was the bright orange hair glowing from the sunlight spilling in from their window, dancing across the bright orange in a tangle of colour and light. Her eyes widened when her body sparked to life, the numbness of sleep vanishing in the warm rays of the sun and the body she was cuddled into. Sometime during the night and the show, she had slipped downward, cuddled into Ichigo's chest with her body curled rather close against his side. The tall man remained the same as he had that night – very much shirtless which brought forth a whole new shade of red across her face: his head was tilted back against the wall, tilted to the side as he snored quietly.

His mouth was parted and Rukia's heart thundered in her ears at the glimpse of peace over Ichigo's face. Every time she had risen early for her classes and glanced over at the man, even in his sleep, he had been scowling. But not now. Now, Ichigo's facial muscles were relaxed and Rukia couldn't hear anything over the rushing of her blood and the warmth spiralling inside of her. His arm that had been draped over the back the night before had found it's way around her shoulders, his large hand loose but firm as he held her to him.

Now, normally, in a situation like this, Rukia would quietly and discreetly crawl away to lament her life's decisions and choices but that morning, two weeks ago, cuddled into Ichigo's arms she found herself wondering why she didn't want to leave? She screamed. She had screamed so loud, Ichigo had not only startled awake but the man had frantically pulled her – using that traitorous hand on her shoulder – over his legs and into his lap, eyes darting around for the source of her scream. The following events must be narrated even in her own conscious but it goes something like this: Ichigo, garbed in nothing but his boxers had just thrown Rukia – only in large t-shirt and her panties – onto his lap.

His intentions had been perfectly acceptable but it was at that moment Rukia realized what the term 'morning wood' meant. Queue Ichigo realizing exactly what had happened and slowly meeting Rukia's eyes as his face filled with a red that could rival her own. Needless to say, he had received a thrashing for defiling her and the two had, non-verbally, not brought it up again. But walking behind Ichigo in the lobby, staring at his broad back as the sun fell over the creases of his shirt where his muscles were, she found herself thinking of orange hair and light.

Coughing to prevent her cheeks from heating up, she moved from behind him to his side as they crossed the lobby but they didn't make it very far before a loud, cheery voice called out, "Kurosaki-kun, Rukia-chan!"

Rukia stopped and plastered on a smile for the bright receptionist, giving a small wave at the wildly grinning and waving woman. She glanced up at Ichigo, expecting to see him scowling but a jolt of jealousy waved through her when she saw the smile on his face and the way he faced the receptionist. For a moment, Rukia could only stare up at Ichigo, her hand still half raised in wave as her fingers curled together towards her palm and her hand lowered to her side. Kuchiki's do not show emotion because emotion is weak. Closing her eyes shut, she breathed deeply and when she opened them, her gaze was cool and hard like ice.

Her spine straightened as she turned toward the hallway that would take her and Ichigo to their Dorm, gliding forward without a word. When she didn't hear the thud of Ichigo's heavy footfalls following her, she ignored the pang in her chest. She didn't need him and all she felt towards him was some misguided feeling of friendship. Kuchiki's do not have friends. They do not feel, they do not cry, they do not –

Her inner monologue of what Kuchiki's do not do was interrupted when a pain erupted from the tip of her skull. Gasping, she raised her hands to cover the aching spot and spun around. Her eyes snapped up, mouth open in a shout to give her attacker hell, and froze. Ichigo stared down at her, one hand balled into a fist as he glared at her. "I've been calling you damn it! Pay attention or you'll run into shit, midget."

His fist dropped to her shoulder and he turned her around to show her she had been standing in front of the glass doors, her reflection showing her neither a Kuchiki or Rukia but some woman she didn't know. She shoved his hand off and spun around, lifting her foot as her hands balled into fists. Her flats nicked him right in his shin and Ichigo howled with pain, hopping around the hallway with a death glare at her as he shouted, "What the fuck, Rukia!?"

She placed her balled fists on her hips and felt herself seething with anger at the audacity of this man. How dare he who hardly knew her make her feel like this!? "That was for striking me, fool!"

A loud guffaw of laughter, deep and rough, made her spin to face the glass doors. She backed up, not realizing how close she was to Ichigo until she felt his hard body press gently into the back of her own. His warmth seared into her and she froze, staring at the large form of the man leaning on the open glass door he held out with his body. He was broad and around the same height of Ichigo, grinning at the two of them devilishly. A pool of dread dripped into her gut, apprehension drowning her as her mind screamed something at her she couldn't hear.

The man had a lot of black hair including a rough stubble around his chin and cheeks. Black spiky hair topped his head and he waggled thick black eyebrows at them above – Her eyes widened as her body slackened, unconsciously leaning back into Ichigo. A cold numb waterfall washed over her as the realization in her mind came to light.

"Are you….Kurosaki-san?"

The broadly muscled man laughed again before he grinned, striking a thumbs up and winking. "Call me Otou-kun, Rukia-chan!"

Eyes wide and pink dusting her cheeks, her brain slowly began to shut down at the process of information that this man _couldn't_ be Ichigo's Dad! But then…..She met those brown eyes and a shock jolted through her. That warm, burning brown gaze belonged to no one else she knew and she swallowed past the lump in her throat, forcing herself to smile as she pulled away from Ichigo's warmth.

She moved forward and held out a small, pale hand, giving a small bow with her head. "It's nice to meet you, Kurosaki-san."

She felt Isshin take her hand, gripping it firmly and giving it a shake. She lifted her head and her smile relaxed until she was forcefully pulled into a hug by the older Kurosaki. He pulled her forward and let go of her hand, wrapping his large arms around her in a tight hug. He wiggled her back and forth, cooing at how cute she was and Rukia felt her stomach flip at the loss of the ground beneath her feet and exuberance of the clearly deranged man. So, Ichigo's insanity was hereditary, nice to know. She squeaked when she found herself pulled out of one Kurosaki's arms and into another's. She found her body pressed into a familiar heat and her tension eased out of her as she blinked in confusion.

Ichigo's voice shouted from somewhere above her head. "What is wrong with you goat-chin!? Don't just grab her like that!"

"Ichigo! Is that anyway to speak to your Father? I demand you apologize!"

"Suck it you old geezer!"

Rukia blinked quicker at the thrown insults before her sanity crashed into her. Taking a deep breath to calm her soul – because dealing with two Kurosaki's was going to surely kill her – she pinched Ichigo's sides with all the force of her confusion. He yelped and jerked away, rubbing at his sides as he glared down at her with an angry frown. She spun around, flipping her hair behind her in the way she knew infuriated him, and gave Isshin a bright, happy smile as she proclaimed, "I apologize for the buffoon's behavior. I'm Kuchiki, Rukia."

All the happiness in Isshin's face dimmed. His smile dropped slightly and the wrinkles around his eyes and mouth crinkled as he gazed down at her, his stare intense and Rukia's breath hitched at the suddenly focused gaze directed at her. No longer did she see warmth but hard, glinting brown as he looked at her. Whatever he was looking for, he found it because a moment later and Isshin's smile strengthened. He laid a large hand on her head and rubbed her head twice, ruffling her hair as she stared up at him in confusion.

"Kuchiki, huh? So you're Byakuya's imotou." Serious Isshin faded in the light of happy Isshin as he grinned down at her. "I'll have to yell at him for hiding such a cute sister from the world!"

As quick as she could blink, Isshin's hand was gone and his arms were crossed as he glared his son down with all the fury of a volcano about to erupt as he shouted, "Oy, Ichigo, you better be treating Rukia-chan right or I'll make you regret being born in this world!"

Fired up from Rukia's assault and his Dad's assault, the college man shouted indignantly, "Shut the fuck up you old goat-chin! How old are you, 5 or 500? Can't tell through your wrinkly face, you old geezer!"

Rukia's breath flew out of her at the gust of wind that blew by her at the speed in which the elder Kurosaki moved, his body flying forward before she could finish her blink. She spun around in astonishment that quickly faded to embarrassment when she saw the scene unfolding before her. Students were milling about now, looking at the father and son duo with their hands gripping each other's tight as they grappled and shouted in the middle of the hallway. Ducking her head to avoid anyone seeing her, she hurried and spun back around, intending to dart out the glass doors and into the safety of the courtyard.

But Rukia's luck wasn't very good lately – she blamed Ichigo entirely. The moment she darted forward, she ran into a soft form that had just rushed through the door. Wobbling, Rukia righted herself and caught the flailing form of the girl she had nearly bowled over. Once steady, Rukia watched the blonde haired girl lift up her head and she was met with soft, compassionate light brown eyes. The girl jerked away and immediately bowed repeatedly with shouts of, "Oh no, I'm so sorry! I wasn't watching where I was going!"

Chuckling under her breath, she laid a hand on the girl's shoulder and smiled when the blonde head lifted to meet her violet gaze. Her blue orbs softened as she smiled at the unfamiliar face hesitantly smiling back. "It's okay. No need to apologize. What's your name? Are you here to see a relative?"

The girl's entire face brightened and Rukia wondered how many people in the world could smile like that. Her lips stretched wide and her light brown eyes sparkled as she nodded enthusiastically. Her body seemed to vibrate with her excitement as she bounced on her feet and exclaimed, "Yes! My nii-chan! I'm Kurosaki, Yuzu! And you are?"

She was proud of her brains and her intelligence, her ability to rapport and be witty in any situation. However to find out this sweet, happy girl was also a Kurosaki fried whatever brain cells were working as her hand fell from Yuzu's shoulder and her mouth dropped open. How many Kurosaki's were there? That question was answered when a black haired girl with her hands stuffed into her pockets and her head ducked strolled through the open glass door, leaning against the door and looking Rukia over with weary, untrusting gray eyes.

Her gray pools slid from Rukia to the arguing men in the hallway who had, without her notice, resorted to punching and kicking each other while flinging insults back and forth. The moment her eyes landed on the arguing males, she rolled her eyes and tilted her head back. Just as Rukia debated asking if she was alright, the younger, darker haired girl took a deep breath and suddenly hurled herself forward, diving into the fray with the ferocity of a lion. Blinking quickly, she met Yuzu's understanding, sympathetic eyes as she told her, "Don't worry. You get used to it after a while. They're always like this!"

As Rukia turned around to see the spectacle, she was further surprised to see the crowd dispelling as the very irate black haired girl stomped towards her and Yuzu, dragging a pouting Isshin and a glaring Ichigo behind her by their ears. She paused, letting them go and stand to their feet, before she rounded on them and though her voice was quiet, the threat was very clear. "Act your age. We're in public!"

Both men managed to look sheepish as the small girl looked between them with the same scowl she always saw Ichigo wear. Her stomach sunk as she spoke up, hesitantly, "Who are you?"

The black haired girl stopped shouting and looked over her shoulder, looking Rukia up and down before raising a tense eyebrow, distrust clear in her grey eyes. "Who are _you_?"

"Kuchiki, Rukia."

The girl snapped her head back to Ichigo who immediately looked off to the side, slight pink dusting his cheeks and the bottoms of his ears. Realizing she wouldn't get anything from him, the girl turned around to face Rukia with her arms crossed and shattered all hope that she was a normal, sane teen from a normal family. "Kurosaki, Karin. You're Rukia?"

The way she said it like she had expected more or better rattled the inside of Rukia's foundation as she was thrust back to the time as a 12 year old girl she had stood before the line of Kuchiki Elders: inadequate and disappointed. She didn't get to say anything before a large fist dropped to Karin's head and she yelped, rubbing the spot vigorously as she spun to face the perpetrator. Ichigo stood behind her and though he was glaring, eyes narrowed and frowning, it was softer than any other time she had seen it.

"That's Rukia. My roommate."

Karin raised an eyebrow. "The one who puts up with all your bullshit?"

Isshin gasped but Karin ignored him and looked back at Rukia. This time, the grey in her eyes was less like steel as she smirked and nodded to her in approval. "You're my hero. He's a pain in the ass."

There was now protests from both Kurosaki males – Isshin more worried about Karin's use of language and her being a lady and Ichigo defending his honor – as Karin laced her hand through Rukia's limp one – how did you use hands again? – and Yuzu's, pulling them both toward the glass doors. Looking at the girls side by side, Rukia could pick out the similarities and the differences. When both of them looked up at her as they stepped out into the sunlight of the courtyard, she felt a piece of her icy wall melt at the identical faces that gazed up at her.

"Thanks for putting up with the idiot." Karin's voice was a quiet mumble but she was grinning softly up at her.

Yuzu was smiling brightly, her hand clasped in her sister's as she looked at Rukia like she had somehow preformed a miracle that required the girl's complete devotion. "Ichi-nii talks about you all the time. You're really good friends and that makes us happy!"

She nearly punched said man when he leaned his head on her shoulder, standing behind her and looking down at his sisters. Him and Karin started bickering the moment she told him they talked about his inability to be a man and Yuzu giggled sweetly next to her. Her attention was drawn to her left the moment she heard a deep chuckle. Brown eyes gazed at his family, soft smile playing at his lips, and Rukia felt her heart clench at the love plastered over his face. This is what a family was supposed to be. Her eyes must have darkened and she felt her lips twitch, fighting to keep her smile, when those eyes fell to her and Isshin's smile only softened.

Laying a large hand, just like his son in so many ways, atop her head he looked ahead and steered her down the stone courtyard in step with his children. Karin let go of her hand and Ichigo's tall, warm body replaced his sister's as the two animatedly argued, their voices light despite the insults. Giggling and smiling happily, Yuzu pranced next to her sister, her eyes bright and glowing from the sun.

It took everything in her as her world was tossed upside down not to cry when Isshin's soft, deep voice rumbled from her left, "Welcome to the Kurosaki family, Rukia-chan."

All she could think about in that mid-day sun, watching the Kurosaki siblings tease and fight and Isshin fondly looking on, was that this family had accepted her without question. How could they let her join their family – why was her chest so _warm_? – when all her life she had had to fight for a place to call home. Why did the Kurosaki family feel more like home than the Kuchiki house had ever been?

For the next week, Rukia found she rather liked being an only child. The Kurosaki twins – she had been astounded to find that sweet, gentle Yuzu was the fraternal twin of the rebellious Karin – had attached themselves to her hip, one on each side, after the incident in the hallway. Yuzu had been her friend from day one, instantly taking a liking to her, but Karin had given her intense narrow stares and frowns that could sometimes rival Ichigo's but the small Kurosaki girl hung out with her during the times Ichigo had class. Isshin would pop in and drop off the girls, sometimes hanging around himself to watch a movie. As the days of that week drug on, Rukia realized she had never known what a family was.

Eating Yuzu's meals that she hand cooked all mostly from scratch, listening to Isshin tease both his girls and his adult son, listening to the teens ramble on about their high school lives, and overall the feeling of just warmth and comfort that the Kurosaki's radiated was powerful. The love they held for one another sometimes made Rukia feel like an outsider looking through the window of what a family should be like, reminding her of what she had thought she had found was nowhere near what a family she had come to realize she _wanted_. It hadn't truly hit her completely until last night. Karin and Yuzu had played soccer with her – Karin's favourite sport – and the three had gotten so involved in the game that Rukia had let the time slip her by until the sun had set well below the horizon.

Her and Yuzu had chatted all the way to the dorm room with a grinning, victorious Karin behind them. As soon as the girls had entered the room and hit Ichigo's bed, they were out like lights. She had chuckled, her heart swelling with affection for the twins breathing in their brother's bed, passed out from exhaustion and the fun. Focused on retrieving a blanket for them, she had not noticed Isshin and Ichigo enter the room as she threw the silk comforter off her bed and over the sleeping twins. Karin's arm was dangling off the side, her body inches from slipping off the bed, and when Rukia turned to walk towards her own bed to rest her aching feet, she was jerked back by a small grip on her wrist.

Turning, she met the gray eyes of Karin head-on as the quieter of the twins had mumbled, "Thanks, Rukia-nee."

She watched Karin's eyes slowly slip closed as a small smile curled at her lips, her grip loosening until her hand fell, fingertips dangling above the carpet. Her heart had bolted into her throat as the weary Karin called her something Yuzu had taken to calling her since day one – and Yuzu had even dropped the Rukia, referring to the older woman as just Nee-chan which never failed to make her and Ichigo blush when in the same room. That moment the night before had shown her what siblings should be like, and the warmth from the acceptance of the Kurosaki twins had her glowing. Until she had turned and found two equally embarrassed grown men staring at her that resulted in her beating Ichigo senseless and not being able to look Isshin in the eye.

Now, the next day and free of classes, she found herself walking next to the twins as they browsed the small mall a couple of blocks from Seireitei University called the Vizard. It wasn't huge but was large enough to hold three floors and a multitude of mashed together stores, restaurants, and like most days, it was usually pretty crowded. Today being a Tuesday and it being early in the morning still, it was less so than usual. Her violet-blue orbs flicked first to Yuzu holding up a summery butterfly dress to her chest as Karin stared at her twin, arms crossed, and grumbling about how malls weren't her thing.

They weren't Rukia's either but it seems both her and Karin could not say no to Yuzu whose smile, at her sister's grumblings, dropped. A switch was flipped and Karin instantly snatched the dress, shoving it back on the rack and rifling through until she pulled off another, shoving it into Yuzu's surprised hands.

"This would look much better."

Rukia looked at the dress and smiled, giving Yuzu a bright smile and nod. It did indeed suit the excitable twin more with it's bright yellow colour and the dancing white and curled design. It suited Yuzu perfect and the girl's smile returned like the sun after the dispersion of clouds as she nodded her agreement. "Thanks, Karin!"

Rukia looked around the small clothing store but noted it was all teen clothing. As her eyes roamed over the store, she turned to stare out the automatic sliding doors into the mall. Couples, families, and some lone people roamed the second floor of the mall, most either chatting with their partner or families, texting on their phone, or carrying an array of baggage. She paced towards the doors, looking back to make sure the twins were in sight – they were with Yuzu trying to convince Karin she could find her something – before she headed to the checkout. The cashier was an odd girl with lime green hair and a weird half mask over the side of her head. She popped out bubblegum and would giggle at it before bobbing her head to some tune in her mind.

Not the weirdest she had ever seen – there were some really weird people at Seireitei University like the Fight Club who existed to, day in and day out, fight everyone and everything including themselves – but still weird. She approached the front desk and smiled, waiting for the green haired girl to notice her. When her presence wasn't noticed, Rukia's smile twitched and she cleared her throat. Hazel glanced up at her before the cashier blinked rapidly, realizing there was a customer. Rukia opened her mouth to speak when the girl let out a shout that made Rukia jump, before her spine snapped straight and her hands flew to her cheeks.

"Oh noooooo! Nel will get fired for not paying attention! Please, you can't rat Nel out!" Her hazel eyes were extremely large and watery as she suddenly leaned over the counter towards Rukia who leaned back, her heart pounding.

She swallowed past the surprise and gave a tentative smile. "Uh, no, I won't. I'm sorry I startled you."

The cashier, Nel she had shouted her name was, brightened and without any warning, threw her arms around Rukia's neck and pulled her into a hug. She squeezed the small woman into her chest and gave her a wiggle before she released her, bouncing on her heels and grinning. "What can Nel help ya with?"

She had a slight slur to her words, a dialect or accent that highlighted certain words, and Rukia struggled to not only understand her speech but not get roped into another hug. Straightening her hair from the impromptu hug, she hastily declared the reason for her even being there in the first place, "I wanted to surprise the two girls over there." She pointed off to Karin and Yuzu who were browsing the boys section. "Can I pay for the purchases ahead of time? I can put down a certain amount and the rest can be credited back if it's too much."

Nel blinked at her as her head slowly cocked to the side. "How does Nel do that?"

Patience close to snapping, Rukia took a deep breath and told the odd girl, "Didn't your manager tell you how to work credit and refunds?"

Hazel pools blinked and then recognition lit them as she smacked a fist into her open palm. "Ah, now Nel remembers!"

The busty girl stuck her tongue out as she tapped a few keys into the computer screen then into the cash register. With a triumphant cry, Nel pumped both fists in the air before she turned her oddly pointed toothy grin at Rukia, gesturing to the card machine on top of the counter. "Put yer pin in or slide yer card, there!"

Internally wondering if the girl was part shark, she slid her card through the machine, watching the glowing screen as it processed. When it lit up with the cashback options she selected none and, being tied to her personal account and the only money she had left that had not been cancelled, put in her pin. The screen flickered back to processing before the machine lit up, displaying the word approved. By the cash register, the receipt machine hummed to life and two separated receipts unfurled from it's clutches. Nel kept one and happily handed the other over to Rukia who placed it in her Chappy wallet and stuck the small pink wallet into the back of her jeans. She gave the odd cashier a strained smile and headed off towards the twins.

Karin was carrying one thin sweater and one sports jersey and Yuzu had the one beautiful dress draped over one arm. The two were discussing something animatedly and when their eyes fell on Rukia, the small soft smile on Karin and the bright happy grin on Yuzu was enough to lighten her entire body, warmth seeping through the icy cracks of her heart. Karin nodded towards the cashier who was humming as she looked, head cocked, their way. The pink bubblegum she had been popping before made a reappearance and Rukia wondered if she swallowed the other piece in her bubbly excitement.

"We've gotta pay, Nee-chan, then we can head back to Baka-nii and goat chin."

They approached the counter and Nel leaned over to look at the twins with a wide happy smile. "What can Nel help ya with?"

Placing her dress on the counter, Yuzu beamed and ran her fingers lightly over the thin, breathable material as Karin laid her two items next to her sisters. Yuzu directed her bright smile to Nel as she asked, "Can we pay for these, please?"

When the twins turned to talk to each other for a moment, Nel sent Rukia a hidden wink that made the grown woman want to run away and hide in her room. It wasn't that Nel was awful or a bad person but after staying up until 4am watching Disney movies with the twins curled up with her in Ichigo's bed, Rukia was tired. Plus she still had to help the twins study for their spring exam after their two week break and get ready for the surprise dinner Isshin had demanded the family plan for – she had been shocked when he had included her but refused to acknowledge the warm glow settling inside her chest.

She waited with her arms folded as Nel ran the purchase and credited it to the payment she had made. When Nel began bagging the clothes and removing the hangars, Karin grabbed her hand. "Whoa! We haven't paid yet! Yuzu has the allowance in her wallet just give us a sec."

Before Karin could utter a word to Yuzu, Nel grinned her sharp teeth and pointed at Rukia with a thin, bony finger – did that girl even eat!? "She paid fer it. S'all covered!"

Blonde and black hair whipped around to face her and Rukia gave Nel a hard, firm glare that sent her ducking behind the counter with a squeak, grabbing hold of the mask perched atop her green hair. What could she say? She hadn't wanted them to find out that way, knowing the two would fight and argue with her about the payment. She lowered her arms and placed a hand on each of their shoulders, smiling down at them with soft blue orbs. "It's okay. I wanted to. Thank you Karin, Yuzu. I hope you won't forget me when you go back home."

Out of everything she expected, she did not expect the two to share a silent conversation with their eyes before both of them lunged for her. Yuzu and Karin hugged her tight and a swelling warmth flowed into her. Her hands found their way to the girls' heads, holding them gently to her in a hug. The more she stared down at the curls of blonde and loose black strands, the more she realized how lonely her life would be when they actually _did_ go home. She snorted inwardly as she realized that the Kurosaki's had turned her entire world inside and out, upside down, and twisted it into exactly what she hadn't known she was missing.

She glided her fingertips down their silky hair to their shoulders and gently pushed them back so she could bend down. When she was eye level, she was met with teary brown eyes and gray that refused to meet hers as a tennis shoe shuffled into the brightly lit ceramic tiled floor of Hollow Topic Inc. The corners of her lips tilted upwards and for once in her life, the smile came easy. "Come back to see me and your idiot nii-chan again, okay?"

Lifting her arm to swipe at her teary eyes, Yuzu nodded happily, her head bouncing and blonde hair swishing with them motion. "Of course! We could never forget you Rukia-nee! You're family now too."

Karin lifted her hands and linked them behind her head, fingers curling into her black hair as she met Rukia's gaze. Her cheeks spotted pink, the embarrassed girl muttered, "You're the only one who is good at playing soccer so of course we'll visit again."

Heat blossomed in the back of her blue violets but she shoved the swelling down, giving the twins a single nod. "Good. Now let's head back so we can get ready for dinner, ne?"

Rising to her feet, she lengthened her spine and winced at the slight pop of her vertebrae snapping back into place. Rubbing at the back of her spine, she gestured with her free hand for the Kurosaki twins to follow her. The sliding doors pulled open with a swish and the chatter of the crowds in the mall surrounded them. Sunlight filtered in from the glass, arched roof sparkling down into the mall like diamonds. The white interior glittered, reminding of Rukia in passing of the small white mask she had seen atop Nel's green locks. She moved swiftly toward the escalator that would take them to the first floor but her eyes nearly popped out of her head. A shocking jolt travelled through her spine from the top of her head like cold water rushing through her bones when a small hand on each side of her gripped her own.

Violet-blue orbs swirled softly as her thin fingers curled around the small hands inside hers. The skin of their hands was soft and warm inside of her curled fingers and Rukia felt a surge of protectiveness flow through her. No matter what happened, she wouldn't let anything to happen to this family that had accepted her. As they approached the escalator, a shout was heard above the people milling on the moving steps. Snapping her head to the side, she saw Nel waving frantically, the two white bags over a wrist each. Rukia looked at Karin and Yuzu who looked up at her with equally embarrassed and surprised expressions. For a moment, all they could do was stare at each other before twin smiles blossomed over the girls' faces.

It started with a giggle from Yuzu and then a snort of amusement from Karin, Rukia's lips twitching, before all three burst into quiet giggles. Lifting up her chin, Rukia grinned as she strode away from the escalator and towards the busty cashier. When they reached her, Yuzu and Karin each took a bag from her and they waved goodbye as Rukia steered them back towards the descending steps. The smell of the restaurants burned her nose and she felt her stomach clench in hunger, looking up at the glass ceiling. The sun had moved further across the light blue sky, small wisps of white clouds dotting the vast blue.

Her flats clicked as she stepped onto the escalator, the girls huddling into her sides to stay on the same step and for a moment, Rukia wondered if they looked like a family. Unbidden, the next thought came from the dark depths of her mind: what would the Kuchiki family think? The corners of her lips faltered as her smile fell slightly. What would _Nii-sama_ think? She squeezed the hands in her own a bit tighter at the thought of the man she had looked up to since she was a pre-teen. Hell, she had looked up to him for as long as she could remember. Her heart ached painfully and her chest constricted at the memory of 94 calls she had left on his phone, all the texts she had sent that had not been read over Messenger and Whatsapp, and at the way her funds had been cut-off completely.

Her financial advisor had contacted her and told her that her tuition was still covered, as the whole of it had been paid for the full 4 years, and Rangiku had told her all she needed to cover was her book expenses, her food, etc. Remembering the sly, sake obsessed advisor she had been stuck with left Rukia feeling both tired and a little bit less stressed knowing that, despite Rangiku's flaws, the advisor was a rather good woman. The orange haired woman had taken a liking to Rukia, often inviting her out for drinks – to which she always declined; Kuchiki's do not drink in public or get drunk – but Rukia had never been an alcohol drinker, even recreationally, preferring to keep her wits about her.

As the escalator came to roll beneath the metal landing, she hopped over it with Yuzu and Karin walking steadily next to her. She looked down and glanced between them, listening to their conversation in passing as her eyes flickered back up to guide them towards the exit and Ichigo's jeep. The girls were talking about school and all the teen gossip that usually stemmed from it. Boys, school dances, tests, and the trends that Rukia was glad to be rid of. Rolling her eyes at being thankful that part of her life was over, Rukia meandered with them through the throngs of people wandering about. The smell of sweat and perfume was heady and strong and it made her nose tingle as she breezed through the sliding doors, stepping out into the parking lot of the Vizard mall complex.

She took a deep breath of fresh, clean air and turned her gaze up to the bright ball that granted them light. It was burning strong, leaving the black asphalt looking like a mirage in it's rays. Idly, Rukia wondered if she should load up Pokemon Go to see if there were any nearby but dismissed the thought as her skin tingled from the heat. It wasn't sweltering and it was definitely breathable – better than the last few days for sure – but it left an unpleasant feeling on her skin, like the presence of a stranger's skin too close to her own. Her hair stood on end at the humidity and she glared at the single strand of hair that fell over the bridge of her nose. That single strand refused to obey her, damn it!

Blowing air upwards in hopes the strand would listen – it didn't – she looked both ways for cars before moving forward. Karin and Yuzu slipped their hands free as they bickered about who would sit up front in Ichigo's metallic silver Jeep Grand Cherokee. The bickering was a comfort in the quiet of the parking lot. The mall had been full of people chattering, the sound of footsteps, and the quiet hum of the electronics working to keep the mall happy like the escalators and the elevators. Compared to the noisy hum inside, the parking lot was silent. A couple of cars pulled out of their parking spaces, the tires rumbling over the asphalt. Someone shifted a gear stick and the smaller of the cars grunted before it took off slowly down the aisle.

The Jeep was Ichigo's 'baby' as he had called it and it showed. The silver car was gleaming from it's fresh wash, wax, and paint the moron had had done before college had begun. The sun bounced off the hood, casting silver diamonds over the other cars. Rukia smirked as she pulled out the car keys from her jeans pocket, separating the dorm key from the car key. The tall, orange haired man had grumbled before handing over the keys, threatening to kill her if something happened to his car. Before her and the twins had left, she had told him she would make sure to hit every bush, pole, and wall before coming home. They had left to Ichigo's spluttering and his Tou-san's deep laughter behind the closed door.

She raised an eyebrow when she saw the two twin teens fighting over the door handle. The sun beat down, the air thick and dry with humidity, and the car cast out an enormous amount of heat from the way the sun rolled off it's exterior. Her eyebrows shot up when she got an idea and bounced over to the arguing twins. She separated them and put them side by side, their gazes confused. Grinning, she chanted off the old rhyme, "Eenie meenie minie mo. Catch a tiger by the toe. If he hollers let him go."

She pointed back and forth between them as she spoke each word, violet orbs dancing with mischief. "Eenie meenie minie mo!"

Her finger stopped on Yuzu and the girl beamed, turning to Karin and sticking out her tongue. Karin mimicked her but shot Rukia a grateful smile when she held the door open for her to clamber into the back seat. She shut the door once Karin snapped her seatbelt into place and peeked her head in at Yuzu, shutting the door when the girl quietly clicked hers into place and gave Rukia a bright smile and a thumbs up. Tapping the hood of the car, Rukia hummed the melody of a song stuck in her head as she pulled open the driver's door to climb in herself.

The leather of the interior was hot to her skin and she cursed as she stuck the key into the ignition and the jeep hummed to life. She turned to the controls for the AC and stuck it on a bit below medium, letting the cool air blast from the front vents and the foot rests. Yuzu giggled when the cold air hit her sandalled feet but from the back, Karin let out a happy, content sigh. Smiling, Rukia tapped the radio button and when the display loaded, she turned the knob to a mixed station. The song that came on was catchy and sweet and she found herself tapping her fingers against the steering wheel with one hand as her other shifted the car into reverse.

Using the rear view mirror and the side mirrors, she pulled out of the parking space and shifted back into forward gear. The jeep jerked softly once and then she was pulling forward down the aisle. Her eyes darted around the parking lot as she kept her focus on the road, listening to the radio and Yuzu's soft singing next to her. The bright girl could really sing and Rukia loved to hear her. She pulled to a stop to let a car pass at the intersection that would take her out of the mall, lifting up a hand to pull back the sunroof cover so sunlight could filter into the car. The air, cooler now, blasted against her cheeks and she licked her dry lips from the heat.

She pulled the steering wheel and turned right at the intersection, following the road until she hit the lights at the bottom that had just turned red. Braking, she turned the AC down and turned the music up slightly and Yuzu adjusted her voice with it. As Rukia turned left once the light flashed to green, she heard Karin's quiet voice singing along with her sister's in a perfect balance. Where Karin was quiet but forceful, Yuzu was loud and airy. They fit well together and before too long, as the jeep rumbled down the road that would take them to Seireitei University, she found herself singing along.

Despite her tired body and the ache in her heart for things she couldn't change and people she couldn't make love her, she found the answer in singing her heart out in a jeep with two girls that had taught her more than she had ever taught them. And it came in the form of a song on the radio, all three belting their hearts out in the jeep that carried them home:

"And I will love you, unconditionally~"

"You better not have wrecked my baby, midget!" Was her greeting when she walked through the doorway of their shared dorm from the vicinity of his bathroom.

Rolling her eyes at his stupidity, she hung the key ring up on the hook behind the door and hollered back, "Completely wrecked! You're welcome!"

There was the sound of a slippery thud and she grinned, cocking her head to the direction of his bathroom. There was the rhythmic sound of water running and with a quick glance of her phone screen she pulled from her back pocket, the time was inching closer to their dinner with Ichigo's family. All Isshin had said was to dress casually nice and be surprised when she dropped the twins off with him in the lobby of the University, giving Orihime her usual greeting as she had walked by. Stretching her achy limbs, Rukia headed towards her own bathroom and left the door ajar to let out some of the steam as she showered.

Browsing her clothes she chose something neutral, casual, and one of the only dresses she had that _wasn't_ a kimono – the Kuchiki house was primarily a Japanese family who had made their influence and spread it around the world. She took the dress off it's hangar and held it up in front of her, eyeing it critically. It was silk and smooth, cool against her hands and pitch black. The straps were small and thin, barely noticeable as they connected to the sweetheart neckline that would hold her breasts. Around the neckline to around the back of the dress was a see through, edgy lace. A thin, built-in elastic belt wrapped around the middle right below her ribs that would hold tight to her body.

From the elastic belt the bottom of the dress was free-flowing down to her knees. Nodding at her choice of attire, Rukia laid the dress gently out on the marble counter so it didn't wrinkle as she reached back in for a pair of thin, black yoga pants. She pulled out her favourite pair and set them atop the dress, turning back to pluck out a pair of thick wedged, small heels. They were black and with a small arch so her feet wouldn't suffer in the morning. She set the shoes on the floor beneath the dress and bit her lip, gazing into the wardrobe in case jewellery from Narnia magickally appeared. When it didn't, she shut the doors and headed toward the bath-shower combo.

Pushing the cherry blossom and silver sparkled shower curtain to the side – and ignoring where Ichigo had pasted a Chappy rabbit on the inside – she reached in to a middle, metal plate where a small switch sat pointed to the left. She flicked it to the right and tapped her fingers against it, waiting a moment, and then lifted her hand to another round, metal plate. There was a twisty handle with a blue line on one side and a red on the other. She twisted it into the red, a little below half, and closed the curtain to let the water heat up.

The shower thrummed to life and the drumming of the water hitting the tub filled her mind, her body singing at the idea of the heat that would soon engulf her tired body. Reaching into her back pocket, she pulled out her phone and set it in the small, square shelf above her toilet before grasping the hem of her loose, light blue butterfly over shirt. She pulled the over-shirt above her head and dropped it to the floor before lifting off her white camisole and tossing it with the over-shirt. She was left in her thin, small black bra which she unclasped from the front and slid off her shoulders, letting it fall into the pile.

She sighed as she massaged the edges of her breast from the bra, glaring down at the contraption as if it was it's fault she was forced to wear one. Shimmying out of her jeans and her black underwear at the same time, they pooled at her feet and she stepped out of them. Lifting them with a foot she dropped them with her other discarded clothes before promptly pulling off her socks to drop them on top. When she poked her head in, the steam and heat of the shower assaulted her and she sighed blissfully, sticking a hand beneath the spray of water to feel the temperature. It was hot but not scalding and she hurriedly stepped in, pulling the curtain closed behind her.

As soon as the water hit her bare skin, steam rolled off her body in waves and a long, drawn out sigh was wrenched from her lips as every muscle beneath her pale white flesh relaxed. She kept her back to the spray, the droplets pelting against her body as she leaned her head back. Brushing through her hair with wet fingers, the water curled through her hair and sunk against her scalp as her hair gained weight. It hung limply behind her as she lifted her small hands to scratch lightly, shaking out any tangles so the steamy water could soak into her hair. Water cascaded down her body in rivulets as she leaned her head forward and opened eyes she hadn't realized she had closed to grab her strawberry shampoo from the shelf next to her.

Squirting a glob onto her palm, she set the shampoo back and rubbed the creamy gel into her hands before lifting them to her hair. Fingertips scrubbed the shampoo into her scalp before she let her whole hand run from the top of her skull to the tips of her hair, the shampoo beginning to foam and bubble the more she worked it into her hair. Curling her toes, she leaned her head back to let the water rinse away the suds from her hair. The ceiling greeted her and she let herself smile as she thought back to her afternoon with the Kurosaki twins. They were fun and a sliver of regret curled inside of her like a snake. Feeling cold despite the heat of the shower and her gut empty, Rukia blinked past the emotion building her throat.

Remembering Isshin's teasing, the time she spent with the twins, her time with Ichigo no matter how much they argued or insulted one another and suddenly the hot water was fiery claws digging into her skin, burning and carving her pain into her flesh. She leaned her head forward and took small steps away from the stream of the water as she lifted shaky hands to cover her face. She curled her shoulders forward, hiding in herself, as she realized the full extent of her folly. Somehow, inexplicably, she had been drawn into the Kurosaki family. She _wanted_ to be one of them. The cold, empty halls of the Kuchiki manor brushed through her mind and all the times she had spent sitting at her vanity in her too large room staring at a girl that wasn't anything but a doll and a puppet made her closed eyes squeeze tighter.

Her fingers curled into her forehead as she tried to shove past the empty coldness of the snake slithering in her gut but her body only shuddered at the spiky feeling of her loneliness. She swallowed the knot in her throat but it stuck as nausea swelled upwards, the cold snake scrawling into her throat and out her lips in a small, pained cry she was uncertain she had actually made. For surely that pathetic sound wasn't her. What happened to the girl who used to be strong and made of ice, impenetrable? What happened to the woman who had buried her heart behind stone, icy walls so she could never be hurt?

Just when the pain became unbearable, hot droplets fell onto curled fingers now dug into the skin above her eyes in a tight, painful grip. She shuffled forward a single step to escape the water and calm herself down, the snake coiled around her throat in a tight vice making swallowing painful, but the heated drops still fell. She blinked and watched a couple more fall to the porcelain tub below her, splashing and bursting apart like her. All that was left was a runny, destroyed and broken mess of what once was and through the tightness in her chest, she realized she was crying with a numb sort of acceptance.

She felt her lids slip closed and right as she let out a painful cry, there was a couple of sharp raps on the bathroom door. She could feel the irritation radiating off the man on the other side and it was just her luck at that moment that three unfortunate events happened. When something bad happens, it is usually in a sequence and so it is that Ichigo just happened to come to the door to knock just in time to hear her small, painful cry. Now, Ichigo was no fool – well, he was, but a caring fool. The shower was running and he knew that Rukia must be naked but at the heartfelt sound erupting from her cold, icy throat the door slammed open and his worried concerned voice barked, "Rukia!"

Unfortunate event number one: Rukia was startled by not only the panicked, worried concern in his timbre but by the slam of the door that she was sure broke some of the tiles. Unfortunate event number two: she was crying, naked, and vulnerable with nowhere to run and hide. And it just so happened that when she was startled, she jolted in surprise. Her jolt caused her feet to slip on the wet porcelain – why had she not bought a slip resistant tub mat!? – and she flailed to try and catch herself which resulted in her falling forward wrapped in the shower curtain. Unfortunate event number 3: Ichigo, seeing all this happen, chose that moment to be a hero – he was usually always being an obnoxiously justice-like hero without regard to his own safety – and rushed forward to catch her.

So that is how one frazzled Rukia found herself wrapped and held in not only a thin, slightly see through shower curtain but also pressed rather firmly and tightly into the planes of Ichigo's firm, strong body. His arms were flexed, the muscles tense as he held her. A suffocating, heavy and awkward tension fell over them as the situation buried itself hilt deep inside of their minds exactly what had happened. She stared with wide eyes at the skin of Ichigo's bare chest through the curtain in a jumbled mix of amused, awed desire and horror because surely if she could see him through her thin curtain, then he could see her.

His pressed white, button up shirt wasn't actually buttoned and allowed her to feel not only the warmth of his skin but smell the musky cologne he was wearing. A tie that lie untied lay draped over his neck, hanging uselessly over the front of his shirt. He was wearing black slacks which, she noted numbly and with a heat that spiralled into her belly, had the button undone and the zipper down, revealing his black boxers to her gaze. She blushed hard and deep, feeling the heat rush into her scalp and make her feel dizzy. Sure her body was glowing red through the curtain, Rukia felt the heat in her belly scorch her from the inside and for the first time, she realized this man drew forth fire from the pits of her icy being.

Ichigo drew forth life from her and, in a brazen action she was unaware she had made until she heard his breath hitch, she placed both her palms beneath his collarbone through the flimsy curtain, lying her forehead against his chest and closing her eyes. His heart thumped hard and quick in his chest like a caged bird trying to fly and she swallowed at the way the heat flooded her legs, making her knees unsteady. Suddenly, the steam and the heat of the water was too hot and she felt she might drown in the warmth that was pooling around her and inside of her.

Gut clenching, she breathed through the murky coil wound tight inside of her and said, breathlessly, voice laced with a heavy emotion she refused to name. "Sorry…...Ichigo."

At the sound of his name, his muscles grew tight and she felt his chest as it hardened. Ichigo froze and for a long, fearful moment Rukia wondered what the hell was going on and then she had no time to think at all. She practically screamed when Ichigo suddenly tightened his arms around her and pulled her from the tub, lifting her so her feet didn't hit the edge, and then setting her down with her body flush against his and buried in her shower curtain. She heard the telltale plinks that signified he had broken the small, thin hooks her curtain had been on and the material pooled over and around her. Before she could get angry and try to salvage whatever had been between them, before the fire that had nearly engulfed her, Ichigo lifted her with a single grunt into his arms.

He carried her with one arm around her shoulders and the other beneath her legs with the curtain still wrapped snugly around her, trailing down to the floor and leaving a wet trail behind them as the shower continued to drone on against the porcelain tub as if calling her back to it's depths. Here, nestled in Ichigo's arms and the curtain, her head was level with his collarbone, the toned skin of his chest laid bare before her. Violet darkened as her mouth grew dry and she felt that heat coil a bit tighter, making her bite her bottom lip as Ichigo carried her into their shared room. She felt him slow to a stop but he only hesitated a moment before moving in a single direction with purpose. Through the curtain she could barely make out the red and black of his bed sheets before she was dumped onto them.

A gasp was wrenched from her throat when she found herself falling backwards onto Ichigo's thick comforter, the shadowy form of said man hovering over her. She could make out his features through the thin material, tracing them unconsciously with her eyes as her heart pounded in her chest. His strong, diamond shaped jaw was prominent along with the orange spiky hair she could see blindingly through the curtain. His mid-high cheekbones were visible and his face was so close as he leaned over her, she could see his breath fanning against the plastic. Her head was light from the heat building between them in a desperate ache that left her mouth parting open and swallowing back a breathy sigh.

She was caged on his bed with his large palms on either side of her small shoulders, her hands clutched to her chest. Her legs were spread, feet hanging off the bed and dangling above the floor. Her toes curled and uncurled to relieve some of the tension travelling in her body. A strong, lean thigh was resting between her own, crinkling the curtain beneath it. Water still cascaded in a steady drone in her bathroom and a small, warm breeze rustled the curtains by the window, bringing with it the sounds of the University. Students laughed and chatted, faculty announcements grumbled in the background, and music carried into the room from a far off dorm party. Even the sounds of the Fight Club Captain, Zaraki, Kenpachi shouting and hurling insults at his Club floated into the tense room.

But all she could focus on was the body suspended above her. A heat so intense it nearly burned her alive on the spot erupted when Ichigo leaned down and pressed his lips against the curtain, the thin material crinkling. His lips were hot through the flimsy thing when they pressed against her forehead in the gentlest press of his soft flesh against her boiling skin. His lips lingered, pressed against her forehead and she closed her eyes, relishing in the feel of him, storing this memory in her mind. How could she ever forget the way it felt with Ichigo? It was so natural to them to banter and tease, to argue, and her heart stuttered when she realized one day, he would no longer be there.

One day, he would be married to Orihime – who had the biggest crush on him and which Rukia knew for a fact he knew about; the flash of the soft smile she had seen directed at the receptionist lodged in her chest in a green, tight ball – and Rukia would be married off to someone to further the Kuchiki line and carry on their massive business empire. A flash of red hair tied in a spiky bun and a heavily tattooed man popped into her head and Rukia knew she could love Renji, she could, and she cared about the idiot. He was her best friend since coming to the Kuchiki house and though he had been picked by the Elders, she was fond of him.

Loving him was easy because she did. A plan had been set for her life, a plan she had agreed to, a plan she had taken on with blank violet orbs and an icy heart, sealed away from the world and determined to never reveal the woman inside. How could she when she didn't even know who that woman was? She was meant to go to college for Business and Management, graduate with honors and every award possible to achieve, get married to Renji, work with her Nii-sama in the Kuchiki company he was responsible for, have an heir, and obey the sacred Kuchiki laws. And she had been ready to do that, ready to pledge her life and sell her soul.

And then an orange, spiky haired problem had arose. Suddenly, everything around her had been shattered until she no longer knew what was real and what wasn't. She loved Renji and she could get married, have a child with him, and she could be happy. She knew she could but…..A surge of brave courage, hot and fierce, rushed through her and she lifted her hands to grip the edges of the top of the curtain. She pulled it down and paused only a second before lowering it and baring her eyes to his.

She could but she would be lying. Every truth was burning in those dark brown pools that were staring deeply into her own as if willing her to look away. Like she could look away now. Sparking electricity darted between their held gazes, shooting tremors through her body and causing goosebumps to tickle her skin. Brown orbs fell from her eyes to her lips and everything froze like the ice of her heart. Ichigo wanted to kiss her and she wanted him to. Instead, she tucked the warmth back inside of her, willing Kuchiki, Rukia to return.

Looking back at him, she took a deep breath and she felt Ichigo tense, his breath ghosting against her forehead and reminding her of the soft kiss he had placed there that would never fade from her skin. "You done staring fool?"

He blinked at the strength of her voice and then he looked down at the curtain covering her body, the shape of her curves and the soft definition of her pale skin visible to his eyes. It was comical watching red flush across every pore of his skin until she could feel the heat radiating off his face through the curtain. His gulp was audible and his mutter was unintentional but caused her heart to race all the same. "Not really….."

She hid it behind familiarity. "Unless you plan on defiling me would you mind, oh, I don't know," She shrugged and leaned up on her elbows, the curtain the only thing keeping him from seeing her breasts as she tilted her lips towards his ear. She ignored the rush of heat at his slow shudder. "Getting off of me you hulking moron!?"

At the shout in his ear, she had never seen him move so quickly or spastically. He was red from head to toe and being naked on his bed was almost worth the emotional shards she would have to dislodge from her heart later. She smirked and leaned back on her elbows, tilting her head back with a deep sigh and baring her pale neck to him. Her grin widened when she heard the squeak he wasn't capable of hiding before a hurried, mumbled excuse she couldn't make out was thrown at her. When she heard his bathroom door slam, she fell back against his bed and laid there, blinking slowly at the ceiling as her heart thumped in her chest.

A belly deep sigh left her lips as she wondered, idly, what would have happened if she hadn't been a Kuchiki. Would her and Ichigo had ever met? Lifting thin fingers, she let her fingertips graze the heat of where his lips still burned her forehead and squashed the swelling warmth behind her eyes and the hot, tight knot in her throat. She closed her eyes and fought the heat in her body after all, she had a dinner to attend. And Kuchiki's do _not_ run from a challenge, no matter what it is. Putting on her Kuchiki armour, Rukia rose and let the curtain pool at her feet in a crinkle of plastic. She left her heart lying at the foot of his bed, tangled in the curtain and the remembrance of the heat between them.

She headed towards her bathroom where her clothes were still sitting on the marble counters, unaware of the plight she had just been put through. Leaning her hands on the porcelain sink, she sighed heavily and swallowed past the lump in her throat. All she had to do was survive dinner for a couple of hours and then she could let herself fall apart, knowing Ichigo had a class later that evening. The dress was smooth as it slid over her skin, flowing outwards gently. Shapely thighs were shoved first into black panties and then the black yoga pants that hugged the curves of her thin legs. Next were the heels that she slipped on effortlessly and when she met the gaze of her self in the mirror above the sink, Rukia froze.

Violet-blue glimmered in the light of the bathroom, her cheeks flushed a delicate shade of pink, but it was the smile she had not been aware of wearing that made her freeze. Soft, curled at the corners, her lips formed a beautiful soft rendition of a smile she had never known she was capable of. Her reflection glared back at her through her own violet orbs as the colours swirled and tangled together. A presence tickled the edge of her mind and the smile sunk slightly, her head tilting to the porcelain sink as she tried to hold the pieces of herself from falling apart. The white made her feel nauseous and for a moment, she debated cancelling – any excuse would do – and hiding in her room until she was a Kuchiki again, erasing all these feelings.

But Ichigo, as if sensing her thoughts, was never one for subtly. "Sorry 'bout earlier, Rukia. It's just….."

She could feel his frustration through the door that separated them, cracked and still not fully closed, but he was respecting her and Rukia had never felt more grateful as she felt her knees collapsing under the weight of her emotions tossing and turning. Her hands were the only things keeping her upright as her head fell between them, the cold porcelain of the white sink soaking into her heated skin. The orange haired man continued, strength sharpening his words. "You're my best friend, midget. Literally, in the whole world, there's….I mean….."

He sighed and then let out an irritated groan and she could just see him, large hands ruffling his already messy, spiky locks. The frown that creased his mouth would be deep and his eyebrows would be slanted over those brown pools. The soft smile stayed put even when her eyes burned from the hot, wet moisture swelling behind them as she called out, "Get to the point, strawberry."

He snorted but she could hear the tilt of his lips. When he spoke, she expected the strong tenor. Instead, his voice was quiet and serious, sincere in every word he spoke. Pieces of her shattered heart flew together, built back and glued by the words he had uttered in that gentle, deep, and rough tone like it was a truth he had come to terms with a long time ago. "You changed my world, Rukia."

Evaporating like dew in the face of the Sun, her tears faded as the words echoed in her mind. Sincerity and a touch of seriousness had laced those words and Rukia had never felt so many emotions in her life. The world tilted on it's axis as she found the strength to stand, her heart pounding against her ribs and chest tight as her heels clicked against the bathroom tiles. Her fingers gripped the edge of the door as she pushed it open and there he stood, tall and brooding, but the gentleness of his gaze screamed at her. He was telling the truth. His shirt was buttoned – she did not think it was a shame, not at all, not like she was looking anyway! – and his pants were zipped. His spiky hair had been combed into a semi-tame mess.

His tie was crooked and without thinking about it, she reached up, her fingertips grazing his thick neck as she pulled it loose to tie it properly. Her fingers slowed as she stared at the tanned skin of his jaw and the muscles in his neck, realizing with a sudden clarity that she _loved_ this man: Rukia was in love with Kurosaki, Ichigo. The world tilted back and resumed as if everything about her heart and her life had not just been tossed and changed right before her. Taking a deep breath, she took the last two steps that brought her almost chest to chest with the broad, tall man her heart had chosen to love.

Her fingers moved with more precision and the hard ball in her stomach unfurled into warm, dancing threads that tickled her insides, warming her entire body. She could finally breathe again without the feeling of the knot in her throat or like she was going to suffocate. Giving the tie a firm yank and sliding it until it was nestled against his throat loosely, she finally moved a step back and looked up.

Putting her hands on her hips, she raised an eyebrow up at Ichigo's narrowed, focused gaze and haughtily asked him, "Astounded by my beauty? Pfft, come on, loser, we don't be late meeting your Tou-san at the restaurant."

Brushing past him, she headed towards the apartment door as the tension that had built up inside of her expelled out of her with each step she took. Chest loosening, her breathing became easier and her shoulders relaxed behind her as she grabbed her key off the hook behind the door. It had a pink bungee that would slip over her wrist and she snapped her wrist effortlessly into the opening before grasping the cool doorknob in her hand. She took a deep breath, her heart slowing as the words repeated in her mind like a mantra – " _You changed my world, Rukia."_ – before looking back over her shoulder at the tall, broad shouldered man staring at her with narrowed, focused eyes and a small scowl.

Familiarity curled her lips into a smirk as the turbulent toss of emotions thumping around in her chest calmed. "I never took you for a sappy, cheesy romantic you fool. But I guess since you like Shakespeare I should have known. Try those lines on someone who wants your sappy words."

Her head turned around before she could gauge his response but the spluttering made her smirk widen into a happy grin as she pulled the door open and moved into the hallway of their dorm. Shuffling and rustling noises permeated the air behind her before she heard the door click closed and the black dress shoes of Ichigo shuffling behind her. His scowl was aimed at her and the waves radiating out of him struck at her his displeasure. Her heart picked up a staccato rhythm as they reached the concrete stairwell that would lead them to the first floor of Dorm 2. She slowly stopped at the top of the steps, her footsteps quiet as her feet halted.

Spiky, orange hair darted into her vision from her left as the man, hands shoved in his pockets and scowling at the floor, hunkered down the steps. When he was three steps below her – and his head equal with her chin – she shouted his name. Her voice echoed down the stairwell and Ichigo jolted as if shocked, spinning around and craning his neck up instantly at her shout. She struck then with clear precision. The image that greeted her was stuck in her mind: his intense gaze as it bore up at her in curiosity and concern, worry lining the corners of his eyes in thin lines. His scowl was a deep frown and his shoulders, hunkered, had grown taut, prepared to attack if necessary. But it was the hands that had reached up, settling against her hips to jerk her away or catch her that made her decision easier.

Her lids slipped closed as she leaned down, feeling the fingers of the man she had come to love digging into her hips when the soft press of her lips soaked into the skin of his forehead. The moment wasn't lost on either of them; she repeated what he had done to her in the room, when she had been naked and defenceless and vulnerable on his bed. Now, she was baring herself again except this time, it wasn't her body he was glimpsing. She was showing him her soul. Warmth flooded her, tingling against her lips as they stayed, feather light, pressed into his skin. Electricity zinged through her body, creating sparks where his fingers dug into her hips and from the warmth of his body seeping into her own.

Her eyelids fluttered open and she pulled back slightly, lifting a hand to brush some stray orange strands from his forehead. She knew she had the same soft smile and that her violet orbs were glittering with the emotions from earlier as she whispered into his skin, "Because I don't need stupid mushy words, you idiot."

There was the chatter of students on the floor above them and below them but the stairwell had a lingering silence that was draped over their shoulders like a heavy wool blanket: scratchy and thick but warm as it wrapped around them. Taking a deep breath, Rukia extricated herself from his hold – her hips aching painfully at the loss of his fingers and her lips vibrating from the touch of his skin against hers – and hopped down the stairs, carefree. She got halfway down the last set before she heard Ichigo shuffling behind her, his steps echoing in the empty stairwell behind her. She clasped her hands behind her back as the bright haired man stepped up next to her at the bottom of the stairs. Large glass doors separated them from the walkway outside that led to the doors of the lobby. They waited as students milled about with textbooks clutched in their arms, friend chatting amiably amongst the sunlight, the weird fight obsessed group – that her and Ichigo had dubbed the Fight Club – fighting in the lawn beside the twisting pathway, and others tapping furiously at their phones.

A couple of students were taking advantage of the weather and studying in the open air as the two stepped out of the doors and onto the pathway. It was stone and her heels clapped as she walked, the sound offset by the cries of the Fight Club as the members attempted to murder each other. Shaking her head at the stupidity, she kept pace with Ichigo as the thick silence hung in the air between them. He was thinking, she could feel it, and she wondered if maybe she had been too brazen. Not wanting to reveal her feelings but wanting to show him affection was a terrible mix. Out the corner of her eyes she could make out his face and her breath hitched at the small smile unfurled on his lips and the way his brown orbs shone thoughtfully.

Grabbing the door, he held it open for her and when she passed by him, she was thankful for the air conditioning at the whispered words that made her body burst into warmth, drowning in the heat of the moment. "Thank you, Rukia."

Such simple words and yet she found it impossible to stop herself from grinning. They didn't look at one another as they headed towards the front of Seireitei University to find Ichigo's silver Jeep out in the parking lot but if she had looked up at him, she would have seen the same gentle look mirrored on his own. When they exited the building, the sun hit the top of her head, soaking into her skull and flowing into her like a river pouring into the ocean. Every pore of her body vibrated and she had never felt more alive than this moment. Happiness surged inside of her, a euphoric, sweet, slow spreading happiness that left her feeling weightless and heavy at the same time. Heart lifted, she climbed into Ichigo's Jeep and the moment he shut her door, she reached over and switched the radio on.

Ichigo looked her over and sighed, rolling his eyes, before his large frame reached over. She stilled, feeling his broad shoulder dig in between her breasts as he pulled on the seat belt she loved not to wear to tease him. He jerked it and then his warmth was missing as he buckled her in. Giving her a glare, she heard him mumble as he twisted the key and the car purred to life, "Don't blame me if you get killed. Don't want your midget ass haunting me for eternity."

Smoothing out the skirt of her dress as Ichigo began to back out of his parking spot, she grinned as she looked out the window of the Jeep, the air conditioning blowing against her heated skin. Oh, revenge was coming Ichigo. When the tunes of the radio registered as Rukia's favourite pop station, Ichigo gave her another firm glare, flicking on his turn signal as he reached with a free hand to press a finger against the numbered buttons for his saved stations. Rukia's smirk only grew when more pop flowed through his speakers. Humming to the tune, she tapped her feet against her seat and once the turn was safely passed, Ichigo pressed another button. His confusion was evident when pop only continued to blare from the speakers in Demi Lovato's tenor.

Blinking at his radio as if it was a snake that had suddenly declared him King Cobra, eyes flicking from his radio and back to the road, the laughter that had been bubbling up inside of her finally burst into a flurry and Rukia found herself smothering giggles with a hand. Snapping eyes to her then back to the road, Ichigo's voice was awed and irritated. "I should have known. Can't believe you messed with my baby."

"I told you I wrecked it didn't I?" The lilting, teasing tone of her voice was still laced with humor and Ichigo flashed her a glare quickly before flicking his turn signal and rolling the car to a stop as he waited for this next turn.

He looked over at her and gave her another glare. "I'll make you walk, damn it."

They both knew the threat was empty but she humored him. Batting her eyelashes and looking at him with wide, innocent violet orbs she simpered at him, "Oh, Ichigo-kun, no! How could you do that to me?"

"Easy." He mumbled but the twitching of the corner of his lips made her own smile widen into a grin.

They drove for 10 minutes, bantering and teasing, before Ichigo pulled the Jeep into a spot outside a nice, classy little bistro. The front door was held open by a chalkboard that had beer specials and menu specials written on it in smudged chalk and she could hear the laughter of the other patrons and the bustling of the waitresses as she stepped out of the Jeep. So focused on the restaurant, her stomach giving a small rumble, she never noticed the way she hadn't let go of the large palm that had gripped her own to help her step down from the Jeep. Nor did she notice the way those long fingers curled over her own hand, loose but firm. The black haired girl that was slowly, unconsciously, dragging him towards the bistro never noticed when he gave her small form a soft, affectionate smile as they stepped inside.

The moment Ichigo met the knowing, confident grin of his Dad, he pouted. This was going to be a _long_ night.

It had been 3 days since the Kurosaki family, minus one orange haired moron, had departed the hotel they had been staying at and 3 days since the dinner with Ichigo. Three days since she realized she loved the man and now, _now_ , when her world finally felt back on-kilter and on-track, she stared down at the vibrating of her cell. The screen flashed with a number she didn't know but the pool of acidic dread in her gut told her she would regret answering this call. Her thumb hovered the green answer button as she bit her lip. She could ignore it, pretend she never got it and go on with her halcyon days. But…..Ichigo could barely look her in the eye, his brown gaze always falling to her shoulder or the floor.

His shoulders were always tight and sometimes, Rukia wondered if he had figured out her affection for him but dismissed the thought. The strawberry wasn't that smart. Sighing, she pressed the answer button and then tapped the speaker button as she flopped backwards onto her bed. Black tresses splayed out over her pillows, her free arm lying against the silk comforter.

"Hello, Rukia speaking. Who may I ask is calling?"

The dread in her gut boiled upwards, clawing at her ribs. There was a momentary pause before a loud, heavy sigh was heard and Rukia instantly relaxed into the softness of her bed. She pushed back the dread and thick nausea curling into her throat. "Don't scare me like that Ran, I thought you were a serial killer!"

There was no response, no laughter from her busty advisor and friend. There was nothing but a choking silence and the feeling of dread that snapped and coiled inside of her. Whatever smile had emerged faded and she felt tears clog her eyes. "Ran?"

"Rukia. Hey, sorry, it's just….I've got some good news for you." Her voice was anything but the lilting whirl Rukia was used to and she knew that the news Rangiku had for her was anything but good.

She swallowed thickly and managed to ask, "What is it?"

"You put in a request a couple of, uh," There was a quick flurry of tapping keys over the cell signal and then her voice, quiet, returned. "Weeks ago for a single room."

The dread burst into sparks of acid in her gut, burning a whole through her skin so her stomach could fall to the floor. A cold, dark burn inched over her skin as a heavy knot twisted in her throat. The sharp point of realization stabbed at her heart.

Rangiku hesitated and Rukia knew instantly what this was. She had requested a single room and had gotten stuck with an annoying, irritating man she had fallen in love with. And now she had to leave him. The frigid iciness of her Kuchiki mask flowed over her like a battle armor as she took a deep breath. Tucking the heat of the Sun into the dark recesses of her heart, she gripped the phone tightly and spoke, her tone monotone and revealing nothing. "Yes. When can I move in?"

She could feel the confused, hesitant waves of her friend and closed her eyes. The curtains flapped in a strong breeze, bringing in the smell of dirt and rain from the recent showers. Dark grey clouds rolled over Seireitei University, blocking out the light and the heat of the Sun. Cool air washed over her body, walls of ice building up around her. "It's available now, so – well, anytime you want. I can put in a cancel request, really. You don't –"

Rukia cut her off as a hot tear swooped down her cheek, heart hardened against what she had to do. "No. I'll take it. I'll move in tomorrow. Thank you, Ran."

She dropped the phone to her bed as her thumb clicked the end call button, not even bothering to listen to see if Rangiku would chatter like she usually would. The scent of rain was fresh and the clouds created a heavy atmosphere that hovered over the University. She couldn't hear the chatter of the other students or the Fight Club trying to kill each other. All she could hear was the crackling of ice and the shattering of her heart at the same time. She was Kuchiki, Rukia and that was who she had always been. Love was not something she needed. It was not what she wanted. Blank violet orbs swirled in the darkness of the room as she lifted the phone up to her face, lifting her other hand.

With one finger she tapped her contacts and the other scrolled until she reached the contact she wanted. Pressing the name, she was greeted with the number and a green phone that would signal her call. A pale thumb paused over the button, chin wobbling as she gathered herself together. Pressing the button, instead of speaker, she lifted the phone to her ear with one hand and waited. The ringing drug on and just when she thought he wouldn't answer – he had yet to answer her: he did.

"Rukia."

That single word carried so much in it and she found that single word, in his tone, in his voice, was what threw her off the edge of the cliff she had been dangling on. Sobs burst from her throat, raw and breathless, as hot tears dug scars into her cheeks and left behind burning marks. Her eyes slammed shut and her face was tight with the emotion wrenched from her throat, her shoulders shook with every sobbing inhale. Her gut caved painfully as it tried to curl into itself. All the while the other line remained silent and Rukia wasn't sure if the painful stab in her ribs was from her tears or the silence on the other end of the line.

She cried until the pitter patter of rain began to drizzle into the room as her sobs faded into hiccups. Her eyes burned and the skin beneath them was sore and achy. Lethargy settled over top of her in a warm cocoon as she shivered from the wet, cold breeze that blew in from the window. Thunder growled in the distance as she closed her tired, aching lids against the pain in her chest. If this is what love felt like then Rukia wanted nothing to do with it. Used to the silence she hadn't expected it to be broken but Kuchiki, Byakuya was not one to always follow the norm.

"Rukia." Unlike the clipped, sharp tone he had used to greet her, this time it was quiet and laced with a sympathy she didn't understand.

Tears welled at the corner of the ducts she thought had dried up as she inhaled with a gasp. "Nii-sama, what do I do? It hurts. How do I make it stop?"

There was no way he could know what she meant; she wanted to rip out her beating heart and burn it, she wanted to tear out every emotion from her brain and numb it, and she wanted to – was _going_ to – run from Ichigo, never see him again.

But Rukia couldn't see him so she didn't know the way he hid his face in his hands or the way his shoulders tightened against the onslaught of memories that haunted him every time he closed his eyes, every time he looked at the girl on the other end of the phone. The only thing she knew was when he spoke, his voice was tired and weary and defeated but carried with it a burning spark she had never heard before.

In the face of it, her entire body stopped as her Nii-sama's voice washed over her. "It hurts, sometimes. You can take the easy way out. You could graduate, work for the company, produce an heir."

These were things she had known had been planned for her and she willed herself to accept them. But Byakuya's next words made her eyes shoot open in wide surprise. "You could be like me, could be a Kuchiki. Or you could be Rukia. You could move on and never know what you would have missed. But you can never erase what could have been. You could be haunted by it or you can face it. I…."

Rukia's heart thumped in her chest at the painful pause and when he spoke, all she wanted to do was wrap her arms around his waist like she did when they first met and hold him to her, her only lifeline. "I loved Hisana. Your Nee-chan. I loved her so much. Her death, it –" His swallow was audible and thick and Rukia felt her own throat go tight. "I will never know what could have been. I never told you but the Clan refused for us to marry. I loved her and I married her anyway. Her last wish as she lay dying, Rukia, was for me to find you and –"

His voice broke and there was a lengthy pause as Rukia fought her tears. The rain was heavier and falling in a thick torrent, pounding against the roof. A sheen of it blew into the room and dusted across her skin as she waited with bated breath. "And to love you with all the love I had for her. She made me promise her."

She heard the wistfulness and a small, tremulous smile curled her lips. "And you did, Nii-sama. I'm happy."

"Are you?" There was no malice or hesitation but instead those two words shook her to her core with the quiet, knowing voice he used.

It came out as a question but she knew she didn't have to answer. Fumbling, she said the first thing in her mind. "I'm a Kuchiki, I know my duties."

The sharpness of his words was like a thousand cherry blossom petals slicing into her skin and she winced, recognizing it as the reprimanding, disappointed tone he got when she did or said something that he didn't like. "Where in those duties do you draw the line? If the Clan asked you to kill him, this Kurosaki boy, would you kill him while he slept? Would you be able to marry Renji and not look back, not once, at the life you _could_ have had? If your heart is not in it," His voice grew deadly quiet, stabbing into her chest with the seasoned precision he always carried. "Then what is the point of carrying out your duty?"

Burning, aching ire seared through her blood and crawled up her throat. She spat out the words as her eyes narrowed, teeth grinding together as she didn't seem to realize that Byakuya knew who she lived with and that he knew about her feelings. The anger boiling through her erased all rational thought as her free hand clenched into a tight fist. "You were just carrying out Hisa-nee-chan's wishes, you didn't find me because you cared about me."

Shooting up on the bed, her yellow sundress bunching at her hips, she slid her legs beneath her and tried to speak past the burning knot in her throat and the churning of anger boiling in her stomach. She couldn't ignore the hurt of her own words as they spewed out of her lips, fire and molten lava propelling her forward despite the silence on other end. "I am a Kuchiki, that is what you wanted me to be, isn't it? And I am. I won't stain the name, don't worry. I won't disappoint you any more. What does my heart know? All I know from this is pain and uncertainty!"

Panting, her breath left her lips tingling. Her grip on her comforter was so tight with her one hand that she could hear and feel the silky fabric as it fought not to tear in her iron hold. She was gripping her phone tightly with the other hand, knuckles white and palms sweaty. A gust of strong, cold wind blasted into the room bringing with it the stinging of the rain like tiny needles against her skin and she tried to quench the pain that welled up inside of her. His silence was answer enough and just as she was about to pull the phone away and hang up, Byakuya's quiet voice filtered through the line.

"I carried out her wishes because I loved her. I had no reason to love a child I knew nothing about." The truth lacing those words lashed out at her tender, icy walls. "It must be, then, Fate that I _did_ know you."

Her hunched shoulders dropped as his words made her mind reel with all the possibilities of what they could mean. "W-What? How could you know me and I not know you? Ridiculous."

His deep chuckle vibrated through the phone and her eyes widened, hands loosening, as she remembered the first and only time she had ever heard his chuckle of amusement. Byakuya had brought her to the Elders in the main Kuchiki Manor and he had bowed before them, expecting her to do the same. Instead she had narrowed her hard violet orbs and inadvertently challenged their authority over her. Leading her away afterwards, with a fond chuckle, Byakuya had told her only one other person had dared not bow before the Elders: his wife and her deceased sister, Hisana.

That same chuckle resounded, chipping at the ice in her heart. He was just as cold as her and yet his voice when he spoke was affectionate if not slightly hesitant and awkward, coming from the man who was as emotional as a rock. "I knew you through her love for you. Her desire to find you and the way she spoke of you…..She revered you, cherished you, and through Hisana's love for you, I, too, came to know you as she did. You were correct, I wanted you to be a Kuchiki."

She could hear shuffling over the line before he continued much more sombre than before. "You have my last name, my family's last name, and honor is important. But Rukia, the only one you should ever worry about disappointing is yourself. When have I ever declared you as a disappointment? You have…." She could picture all the ways she had annoyed him over the years and a soft smirk twisted her lips upwards when she knew he was remembering the same things. "You have done things different. You lived your life _your_ way. That is no disappointment to me."

Well aware of the 'me' hanging on at the end of that sentence she quietly asked, "But I have disappointed the Clan?"

A small quiet stretched where the wind outside whistled into the room and Rukia took a breath of cool, windy rain. "Yes. And that is precisely why I have ostracised myself from the Elders and the Kuchiki family."

Her gasp nearly choked her at the sharp inhale of air as her heart suddenly pounded in her ribs. A flush spread across her body and she felt slightly light-headed at the words that had just tumbled through the phone line. He couldn't have said it any more monotone if he had tried, as if breaking away from his family was the easiest and simplest thing to do. "Nii-sama! Why!? I-I don't understand…."

"Because I will have no one disrespect you. You are my family, just as much as you were Hisana's. Your heart, Rukia, is the only thing you have that no one can decide for you."

Everything spiralled down as memories of her calls to his cell had never connected, her funds being retracted, all the Kuchiki name being taken from her. It all made sense as everything spiralled to a focal point in her mind: Byakuya had left the family. For _her_. A shaky hand was all she could manage to raise to her trembling lips. "N-Nii-sama….."

Sensing she was close to tears, Byakuya made a humming noise as if to distract her before his voice, unsure, darted into her ears. "I still have my part of the fortune and shall cover your schooling expenses, you have nothing to worry about. And Rukia?"

Dumbfounded, all she could do was nod, forgetting she was on a phone and he couldn't see her. But Byakuya knew. "You tell that Kurosaki boy I am coming in two weeks and he should write his will before then. That is all."

A slight pause was all she got before he mumbled out words she had always worked so hard to hear. A cry did wrench from her throat then. "I _am_ proud of you, imouto."

The beeping of the disconnected line distantly sounded in her ear as if she were underwater, unable to comprehend what she had just heard. Letting her hand fall to the bed, phone slipping onto the comforter, the gusty wind and plopping of the rain became clear. Coming up for air was like gaining sight for the first time after being born blind: the world was exactly the same but _she_ had changed. Her lips twitched upwards, her smile small and shaky as she tried to gather her bearings. Sliding off the bed, she placed on her black and purple slippers and padded to the front door. A walk around the hall would be nice to think.

Unlocking the dead bolt and the slide lock, she pulled open the front door to her shared apartment and a hooded figure rushed in. Rain dripped from the saturated figure's clothes and their back heaved with the heavy breaths from running out of the windy stormy rain and into the room. As the imposing figure stood, Rukia breathed a sigh of relief when she recognized the height of the tall man. Rolling her eyes, she grabbed a towel off her desk chair she had left there after her shower that morning and tossed it at him, grinning as she snarkily told him, "Nice try but even the rain can't wash away ugly."

A hand snapped out and grabbed the towel, staring at the yellow towel as if it were a foreign object that held dire meaning. Blinking, her smile dimmed at the lack of response before she pushed away from her desk she had been leaning on. Walking until they were almost chest to chest, she looked up into the darkness of the hoodie's lifted hood with her hands on her hips as she glared up at the murky eyes she could see hidden there.

Her mouth opened to make another sarcastic remark when a gust blew into the room, rifling through some papers on Ichigo's desk and causing them to fly into the air. Paper rained around the two forms standing in the room and Rukia's stomach dropped in horror when the wind blew the hood back off the face a man who was staring down at her like she was a bird he had caught between his paws, dangling her above his sharp toothed grin.

-MINOR VIOLENCE BORDERLINE WARNING!-

Ice blue eyes framed by green eyeliner and spiky blue hair dipped down into his face as a hand curled into the hair at the nape of her neck, fingers gripping tight to the black strands. Lifting his hand, her hair lifted and she gasped in pain when her feet dangled off the ground from his hold on her tender strands. Sharp, hot pain stabbed her skull and she threw her hands up, fingers digging into the skin of his arm.

White teeth glinted at her as he cocked his head and whispered, "Remember me, bitch?"

She did. Oh, she remembered. Sometimes, Rukia wished she wasn't the way she was. Maybe if she wasn't, she wouldn't be held up in the air by Grimmjow, the angry man from the bathroom on her first day. Caught up in being with Ichigo, she had completely forgotten Grimmjow's promise. Held in his hand and glaring into his dark, smirking face she felt butterflies flitter in her gut that Ichigo would save her. Clarity rang through her mind as she realized that she believed in that thought with everything she had. He had promised.

Doubt trickled into her mind when Grimmjow hoisted her further into the air, the sharp pain in her scalp making her let out a pained cry, hands still grappling to free her hair from his hold. Sharp, angular features leaned into her face as he grinned, his canines pointy as a large rumble of thunder echoed over the building. The ground shook slightly from the storm closing in as Grimmjow sneered up at her.

Tears pricked her eyes and Grimmjow's grin twisted into a dark leer as his tongue darted out to wet his lips. Ice built into her belly at the dark look in the icy glaciers of his gaze. "Do you remember the promise? I said I would find you and kill you but," His gaze raked over her and Rukia grit her teeth. "I think I got other plans."

His breath, reeking of beer and mint, washed over her in a warm torrent as he brought his face closer. "I'm gonna beat you to an inch of your life, take some pictures, and you know, it would make pretty damn good blackmail for that Clan of yours, ya?"

The blood in her veins crackled as an icy cold flooded her. She stopped struggling, body going limp slightly and her eyes widening as she tried to come to terms with the fact she was not going to get out of this easily.

"Fuck. You." She snarled out, narrowing her violet orbs, eyebrows slanted down over her eyes as her fingernails dug into the skin of his arm that held her by her hair.

A quick gaze revealed no weapons in sight that she could easily wield or reach in time and after his entrance, sometime during her retrieving the towel that now lie by the front door, Grimmjow had locked the deadbolt and the door knob. She was stuck and the horrifying realization of this did nothing to damper the fire burning in her belly, spreading in sheets of ice and molten lava.

Grin melting into an irritated twitch of his lips, Grimmjow's tongue darted out as he leaned his head towards her. The wet, slimy tongue trailed from the bottom of her jaw and up her cheek, leaving behind a cold trail that burned her with his intentions. "Wouldn't you like to? Hmm, maybe…...Maybe that's what I can do. You want me to rough you up a bit? That damn brat Kurosaki not enough of a man for you, Kuchiki?"

At the mention of the one man that haunted her, the burning fire in Rukia burst and sparked. Adrenaline pumped her blood faster through her body as her heart accelerated in both fear and strength. She wasn't getting away but she was not going to go down easily. Letting out a battle yell, Rukia removed her nails from his arm, balled up her hands into tiny fists, and threw them one after another towards the blue haired man that held her. His grunts and curses egged her on and she began to thrash her legs. As his hold loosened on her hair, she was blinded by momentary elation that she had gotten free!

Until his other hand slammed into her throat, fingers curling over her small neck. Clawing at his grip, she glared fearfully and hatefully down at him as the hand in her hair fell away. Some of her black strands floated in the air around them as she felt his hand gripping her throat tightly. He was allowing her to breathe but the murderous, dark tint of his icy eyes let her know she wasn't going to be alive long enough to see the Kurosaki family again or the brother that had fought so hard for her. Tears burned and flooded behind violet-blue as she frowned in self-defeat and glared balefully at the man she loathed.

The very first day at Seireitei University whispered into her mind like the gentle, cool breeze flapping the curtains into the room. She watched – was this what they meant by your life flashing before your eyes? Why was it only…..Her moments with Ichigo? – as, memory after memory, Ichigo tore down everything she was only to see herself rise as someone else. The teasing and bantering, the easy way they knew each other in ways no one else could understand and they didn't need to know flooded her mind. Every argument where she had turned her back to him, filled with a fuming anger and irritated tears at herself burning her eyes came to her mind.

All the time she had and all the time she had wasted, all the moments she had cherished and all the moments that made her cringe were what she saw as she stared down at Grimmjow, valiant and determined as the fear in her gaze faded like clouds being blown away by the wind. Through the grasp of rain-cold fingers around her neck, she spat out the words she deemed her last. "You will never be _half_ the man he is."

The grip tightened and her eyes closed as fear welled up in a tight knot in her closed airway. She tried to swallow but found she couldn't as a cool numbness began to tingle throughout her body. Raking her fingers down his arm gripping her throat did nothing. As spots danced in the darkness of her vision and her body began to tremble, asphyxiation taking hold of her, she never noticed the front door opening. Neither did Grimmjow until a body slammed into him, knocking Rukia from his grasp. She dropped in a heavy, numb heap to the floor on her side, coughing and gasping for air into her rapidly squeezing lungs.

Lightning crackled from outside the window as the rain thundered down harder against the world. Gathering breath into her air-deprived body was painful but not more than seeing Ichigo, his orange spiky hair wrestling around with Grimmjow's blue in the darkness of the room now that the darker storm clouds had rolled in. Her ears rung and she struggled to hear the fight, struggled to push past the shadows begging her to give in and let them swallow her vision so she could rest. She sat up on shaking arms, her legs still numb and off to her side. Even though his fingers were gone, she still felt his cold, tight grip and she gagged as her body gulped the air greedily.

She slowed her breathing, steadying herself on her trembling arms as she tried to squint into the darkness of the room to make out the dark shapes she could see shuffling around the room. The bubble in her ears burst as the ringing slowly began to fade and her eyes snapped to the bashing sound of fists hitting flesh in the dark room. The shadows concealed everything until lightning flashed, lighting up the room in a bright cadence. A strangled cry was wrenched from her with what she saw in the split second of light.

Ichigo, his bright orange hair a dead giveaway, had his legs on either side of Grimmjow's hips, the latter beneath the towering man. A single fist bashed into Grimmjow's face, over and over, his other hand fisted into Grimmjow's jacket, holding him to the ground. Not bothering to care if Grimmjow was even alive but not wanting Ichigo to suffer any more – he didn't deserve the trouble she had brought to him – a burst of strength slammed into her. Blood thrumming through her veins she shot to her feet and stumbled in a run over to him as a large booming rumble of thunder slammed into the room.

-MINOR VIOLENCE END-

Falling against the arm that had been raised for the odd number of punches, she held tight. One of her arms snaked around his chest and the other was lifted behind his back, clutching at the back of his shoulder as she used the hand across his chest to twist his face down to her. Brown, compassion had melted into a liquid amber in the dim light from the window, casting shadows over Ichigo's face and making it look pale white. A fleeting image of Nel's mask popped up into her mind as her fingers quaked against his face. This was not Ichigo that stared down at her in pure, unadulterated rage but a part of him she hadn't known existed.

He was panting quickly and her hold on him allowed her to feel the taut tension that seemed to sink into his bones. Blinking past the warmth in her eyes and the pain at her throat, she whispered hoarsely, "You annoying idiotic fool…..I didn't change your world nearly as much as you changed mine."

She wasn't sure if it was her voice or the words she had used – the words that lit up her heart every time she thought of them – but he blinked, focus darkening the liquid amber into a light brown. He blinked in rapid, quick strokes of small lashes against his cheeks before in a strangled voice, he called for her. "Rukia…."

Falling against him, her eyes squeezed shut, all she could do was hold onto him and cry. When she had the strength and breath, she would hurl out insults like idiot and berate him for making her feel worried for him. Everything faded into the background as she leaned into the comfort of a warm, firm torso, lean muscled arms, and the scent of rain that not only drowned the world outside but hung off of Ichigo. He always smelled of the rain and she found it a nice scent, a scent that warmed her belly like hot coffee on a rainy day watching the storm roll in. When he hoisted her into his arms, she threw her legs around his waist and her arms around her neck. She buried her head into his shoulder, her face down into the soaked jacket pressing into her cheeks. Her scalp burned from the memory of Grimmjow's hand, her throat was burning and tight, but yet she had never felt more safe.

It was all a blur. Ichigo kept her in his arms – not like if he had tried to pry her off he would have been able to – as his voice rumbled through his chest, speaking to people she didn't know nor care to see. When Grimmjow's angry voice slithered out, Rukia flinched and she was immediately awash in shame for the involuntary action.

But Ichigo always knew what she was thinking. "Don't. Don't feel bad. That bastard hurt you, it's okay to be afraid. But he ain't gonna hurt you again. Besides," Her heart lightened at the pride that laced his next words. "You should see what you and I did to him."

A small smile was all she could manage. When the front door shut and she heard Ichigo lock all three locks to the door, he moved slowly. He knelt to his knees and she felt her sockered feet touch the carpet as he pried her legs from his waist. The hesitancy wasn't lost on her and she tightened her arms around his neck, burying her head deeper into his chest. Rukia wasn't weak, not by any means, but tonight she _needed_ this, whatever it was, from Ichigo. She had taken care of herself for so long that she had lost herself along the way. She knew she could depend on the man in front of her, she could let go.

Warm violets had been replaced by cold, dark blue of a fallen night. A small smile had become a thin line, as if her lips had forgotten how to make a smile any more. Trust had been broken and her heart, once open and free, had become an icy prison for the feelings locked inside.

Ichigo was relentless and lifted his hands to her own but she curled her fingers into the leather of his jacket, refusing to let go of the only thing keeping her grounded. Reality was still a long way off, her mind buzzing numbly with nothing. It was impossible to focus and all she could keep seeing was her own weakness, the hot shame dousing her that she had failed.

A twitch of Ichigo's fingers on her hands was the only warning before his tight grip latched onto her hands and he tore her arms away from him. Her violet orbs snapped open in a glare, blue roiling with black like the storm outside. Any retort or complaint melted on her tongue like cotton candy in the hooded, narrowed brown eyes that gazed into her own. This wasn't sweet and fluffy like cotton candy but rather thick cotton that left her mouth dry and her throat ache with an emotion she couldn't name.

"Stop blaming yourself, damn it. That wasn't your fault, midget, and I'm not going to let you believe it was!"

Ichigo threw a large palm through his spiky orange hair as he gazed at Rukia, her body frozen and mind numbly trying to process everything but Ichigo didn't really give her the chance. "Quit acting like this is an execution and you're your own god damn executioner. You haven't done anything _wrong_ Rukia. In fact," He gave her a small crooked, half grin that lit up her belly like fireworks exploding. "You really proved you got some strength in that little midget body."

Out of reflex, she threw out a fist to his shoulder in reprimand and felt her lips curl upwards slightly. Both of his hands rested on her shoulders as he stared into her eyes. "Besides," The brown orbs hesitantly flickered elsewhere as he mumbled, "I'd always come to save your stupid ass."

Just like that the numbness was doused in a fluffy, soft glow that beat slowly with her heart, crawling through her veins as the curl of her lips drew higher. Sighing out of her nose, she nodded. "You'd better or I will haunt you, strawberry, and draw Chappy on all your underwear."

He gave her a deadpan look and she grinned sweetly, the ache and fear receding in the glow that unfurled from within her. Ichigo snorted and, giving her a quick precursory glance, stood to his feet before gesturing to her bathroom. "Yeah yeah. Go take a shower. You'll probably feel better then. Uh, do you need anything? When Yuzu is upset, she likes ice cream. I could go and," Ichigo shrugged and even without a light, Rukia could see the pink on his cheeks. "Get you some?"

Chuckling quietly, Rukia padded to her bathroom and threw over her shoulder, "Yuzu is a smart young lady but no, I'm fine. Actually," Pausing at the doorway and flicking on the light, Rukia hunched her shoulders as her heart thumped in fear of the tall man's response. "Could you…..Wait here for me? I don't really want to be alone."

"My services are gonna cost you midget." When she flipped him off, he laughed before she heard his bed dip with his weight. "I'll be here when you get out."

Swallowing past the lump of shame and fear in her throat, Rukia threw out the statement in a quiet voice. "I meant in the bathroom. With me."

She was pretty sure the sound of Ichigo not breathing was supposed to be a bad thing but a minute later his voice broke and cracked with no sensible words leaving his lips like she had just asked him for sex. She knew what she was asking from him. Ichigo, despite his harsh look and argumentative personality, was a kind and shy guy. Anything even remotely involving sex and he would blush like a teen school girl, something Rukia had teased him about endlessly. Now, there was no teasing and only a woman who didn't want to be alone with her thoughts, even in the privacy of a shower.

She turned back but kept her eyes downcast as she watched the toes in her white socks curl into the soft carpet. "You don't have to, it's just – I trust you, Ichigo, and," Her voice broke but Rukia carried on. "I don't want to be alone."

When she didn't hear anything, she spun around and pushed back the hot tears burning her eyes – what had she been thinking? – as she padded towards her bathroom. She had only gotten through the doorway when she looked up at the man who brushed past her and sat on the lid of her closed toilet, looking for all the world like he had no idea what he should do. His bare foot tapped on the pink rug at the base of her toilet that she had put down while his broad palms were twisting together in his jeans soaked lap. His black t-shirt hung tight to his skin, showing off the lines of muscles and hard planes she knew lie beneath. He had draped his wet leather jacket up on a hook next to her towel rack where she usually had her bathrobe hanging.

He refused to look at her, looking at the ceiling with tight shoulders and a curled back and the sight made her snort in amusement. Her heart warmed in affection as she cracked the door behind her and headed to her wardrobe built into the bathroom wall. Rummaging through she found a strapped camisole and a pair of loose shorts that she placed in Ichigo's lap. A jolt travelled through his body as he snapped his gaze down to the articles of clothing then sighing. "What do I look like, your boyfriend or something?"

The sharp, electrifying zing that zapped into her was hard to ignore at that thought as she stepped into the shower, behind the curtain she had Ichigo reattach. She lifted her shirt above her head and threw it out opposite where she could make out the broad black shadow of Ichigo's form. Biting her lip, she stared down at her white frilly bra and the edge of her white lacy underwear, not wanting to embarrass him further with her underwear being flashed at him. Shrugging out of her jeans and socks, she unhooked her bra and shimmied out of her panties, wrapping them up in her jeans and tossing them out.

She turned and turned the switch to the right for the shower before twisting the handle towards the red line. A slightly warm spray pelted her skin and she sighed, feeling her muscles loosen from the fear and tension bottled up inside of her.

Ichigo, however, must have mistaken her sigh for something else and when he spoke, her heart thrummed at the dark, low tenor that rumbled through. She didn't know whether it was fear or a desire she refused to name. "…...Does it hurt?"

Thunder pounding in her chest cavity, her hands trembled as she turned her back to the water and dipped her head back, hands running through her black hair that pulled at her stinging scalp.

"My scalp is sore." She mumbled.

Closing her eyes, she grabbed for her shampoo and dabbed some into her hair, massaging the hair cleanser into her scalp. Trying not to wince at the small twinges of pain in her skull or the small strands of hair that fell and tangled around her fingers, Rukia set the bottle back on the bathroom shelf. Just as she opened her eyes and turned back around, letting the spray hit her collarbone, running in rivulets down her chest, between her breasts, and over her stomach, Ichigo chuckled and the sound was anything but amused.

When he spoke again, her gaze fell to his shadowy form. His elbows were on the top of his knees, hands curled into tightly balled fists. His forehead leaned into his fists and she could see the small tremors that jolted through his arms. "Fucking idiot. Not your scalp. Your….."

She could physically hear the grinding of his jaw and the deep, dark tone of his voice made her turn the handle of the shower further, warmer water spitting at her body against the cold ball in her belly.

He didn't give her time to take a breath before he was speaking in that same low tone. "Your throat."

Blinking, Rukia furrowed her eyebrows, not able to see what obviously Ichigo had seen. Jutting out her lower lip in thought, Rukia reached up a tender hand and prodded her neck. When pain flared up, sharp and biting, she gasped and immediately Ichigo's dark form snapped his head towards her.

She rushed to reassure him. "I didn't know it was bruised. I can't see my own neck, fool."

There was another humorless chuckle but she felt her own body relax when she saw his shoulders loosen. "You're too short to see anything anyway midget."

Feeling more like herself she peeked her head out, holding the curtain to her with one hand, where she could see him sitting on her toilet. Hearing the curtain rustle and crinkle, he looked back at her and a multitude of both emotions and colours flashed over his face so fast that Rukia couldn't help the laugh that bubbled out of her. Shaking her head and rolling her eyes, she grinned as she teased the shy man. "What? It's just my wet hair, it's not like it's my –"

"Ahhhh, gah!" He sputtered, nearly falling off the toilet in his haste to both cover his eyes, look away from her, and not fall off the seat of her toilet. He was breathing quickly and his tanned face was slightly red in embarrassment. When he was able to meet her violet gaze again, he looked back at her with a glare, a half frown, and crossed arms. "Not like you've got something I wanna see, midget. Your, uh, breasts are probably as small as your size."

A single black eyebrow rose up into her hairline at not only the teasing barb she hadn't expected but also the way his blush darkened at even saying the word breasts. Dipping a finger behind her back, she let the warm water fall over her hand before reaching out and flicking the water toward the glaring Ichigo. The droplets hit their mark and plopped into his face. He lifted a single palm to drag it across his face, wiping off the water.

He was still glaring as he mumbled out to her, "Very mature."

Sending him a wink, she closed the curtain and sunk back into the warm water's embrace. She reached for her soap and lathered it against her skin. As the white suds built up on her body, Rukia's mind slowed to a single thought. Without thinking about she called for him. "Hey, Ichigo? I've got a question."

"I'm not washing your damn back!"

She felt a grin twist at her lips at the almost panicked way he thought she might ask him to do such a thing – she thought about it just to see what his reaction to it would be – but the question was clawing for her undivided attention. "Your class had another 10 minutes. How did you….."

He interrupted her, already knowing where this was going. His voice was quiet but firm, laced with the gruffness that was entirely Ichigo. "Listen, I can't say anything like I'm a fucking hero or something. But I just-I don't know, Rukia, I just _knew_. He was supposed to be in that class and when I saw he wasn't there, a couple of his buddies were talking about a short girl that he was teaching a lesson. And I just knew they meant you."

The tight knot in her throat grew warm with pressure as she tried to swallow past it, not realizing the soap had been washed away from her skin. "That sounds like a hero to me, Ichigo. So the professor just let you go?"

She couldn't see his face but the hesitancy hung in the air before his voice filtered slowly over the pattering of the shower and the thudding of the rain outside. "Not…..Exactly. I tried to tell the stupid straw hat wearing idiot that I needed to leave. Kyoraku, the asshole, wouldn't listen so," She saw his shoulders shrug through the curtain as she turned off the shower, wringing out the water in her hair with her hands as she waited. "I punched him in the gut and ran out."

"God damn it, Ichigo, you can't just punch your professors!" She shouted automatically, narrowing her gaze on him even though she knew he couldn't see it.

She saw his hands fly to his hair, a nervous habit he had that ended up with his orange strands frayed and ruffled. "It's not like I punch them everyday. And, hey, I saved you didn't I? I'm the hero I don't need your little mouth. Actually, didn't I say all your opinions are rejected?"

Flabbergasted, Rukia's mouth fell open slightly as she reached an arm for one of her towels on the rack. Fingers curled into the soft, thick towel she pulled in to wrap around her small form. She tucked it in near her breasts and fluffed her hair using her fingers. "You can't just control my opinions, jackass."

"I can if they're stupid. Like complaining about me saving you." He grumbled.

She grinned and crossed her arms over her chest, keeping the towel in place as she shouldered past the curtain. She lifted a leg and as soon as her feet sunk in the soft, silky material of her Chappy bath mat she let out a contented hum. Stepping out of the bath, she faced Ichigo whose face was turned downwards, hands over his face, and ears almost blowing steam. She fancied she could see red bleeding into the bright orange of his hair and she chuckled, warmth pooling in her belly at the hunched form of the man who had, despite his grumblings and shyness, saved her. Reaching over, keeping her feet on the soft mat, she grabbed her clothes from his lap and her grin widened at the darkening of his ears.

She slid the shorts over her legs and up to her hips, tying the string to prevent them from slipping due to her lack of underwear. Sliding her arms through the thin straps of her camisole, it slid over her body easily as the towel fell to the floor in a crumpled heap at her feet. After straightening out her breasts she twisted her hair into a loose, messy bun at the nape of her neck. A soft smile spread over her lips when she looked down at Ichigo, a hand unconsciously touching the spiky locks of his hair. Her fingers played with his hair as she stood before him.

She found herself mumbling the words she had buried deep inside of her in her misty haze from earlier. "Thank you for saving me. I don't know what I would have done without you."

The red faded from the tips of his ears and he peeked up at her from long, thick fingers. Those brown orbs swirled with an intensity that left her breathless, the steam from the shower making her skin feel soft and tingly.

His hands fell to his knees as he pulled himself up to his feet. A moment of hesitancy appeared in the way his arm tightened before he brought it up to lay a hand on her shoulder. Giving her shoulder a firm squeeze, he looked down at her with that same intense stare, drawing all the breath in the room away from her aching lungs. "I'll always protect you, Rukia. Somebody's gotta do it."

The normality and familiarity of banter sunk between them and Rukia knew the tension in Ichigo's shoulders depended on her response. She could keep it serious, talk about the feelings swirling inside of her. They could go deeper into themselves and Rukia could kiss those firm pink lips that were beckoning to her.

But she didn't. "Says the one who once locked his keys in his car and called me panicking about how his baby was committing suicide."

"That was a serious issue!"

She threw a punch behind her at Ichigo's hard abs. At the satisfied whoosh of air out of his lungs and the tightening of his gut, she grinned. Sauntering to the door, she looked back innocently. "Feel free to use my bathroom. You look a little tense Ichigo. Maybe my shower will rub some of my beautiful looks onto your ugly mug."

She closed the door with a grin to the defiant grumbles and curses of the man she had left in the wake of the emotions she couldn't face. Heading to her bed, she flopped down on her stomach, folding her arms beneath one of her silky pillows. The silk was cool and the room was brisk as rain clung to the air from the open arched floor to ceiling window. The curtains fluttered in the breeze on the wings of the dark storm still rumbling outside. From the quick glimpse she got of the sky, it was a bleak world out there.

Taking a lungful of fresh, rainy air Rukia tried to suppress the images assaulting her brain. A bright, illuminating flash of lightning cracked across the almost black sky and painted the memories in her brain across the room. The stumbling, twisting forms of a man she loved and a man she both hated and, to her dismay, feared. Her hands gripped to the silk comforter beneath her pillow as she tried to remember how to breathe. A bzzt sound made her jolt as her eyes skimmed the room, looking for the sound. When it sounded again, her violet orbs fell on the stand next to her bed. Her cell was face down but she could see the edge of the screen vibrating against the wood.

It gave a quick pattern then ended and Rukia knew it was a text but only a few people had her cell number, let alone would bother texting her. Reaching for the device she wiped the raindrops on the back off onto her comforter before holding it level with her face. Rolling onto her side made it easier to slide her screen up and swipe her pattern to unlock her phone. As soon as the image of her background – a black dress wearing Rukia being carried by a ruffled looking Ichigo with three photo bombed heads at the bottom of the screen in the form of Isshin, Yuzu, and Karin after the dinner – popped up, a notification bubble appeared.

Clicking it led her to her messages, specifically to Inoue, Orihime who had texted her a total of 12 different times followed by one from Ishida and one from Chad – Ichigo's friends that she had met – respectively. Scrolling down the small list, she saw a red circle with the number 3 above Rangiku's chat – who had to Rukia's dismay somehow named herself Breast Buddy in Rukia's contacts at one point.

Feeling Rangiku's to be the most pressing, she clicked the message and the text screen popped up. She read the messages she had missed quickly.

 _B.B: Do you need me to come and kick that douchebag's ass!?_

Sighing at how quickly the gossip had spread, she tapped out a response but didn't send it as she read the second message.

 _B.B: Nevermind. Hear your knight in shining armor saved you. ;) I expect sex to be our topic of conversation tomorrow and if it isn't, so help me, I will have to drown my sorrows in sake. What a shame._

She clicked the send button and reread her text before reading the last line Rangiku had sent her.

 _Me: You're an advisor you can't kick a student's ass. But thanks for the offer. Ran! We've talked about this. I'm a virgin but I don't need to get laid. And why does everyone suggest Ichigo!? Don't use me as an excuse to get plastered!_

 _B.B: Your new room is ready and they put it on hold for you, as you won't be in any shape to move out tomorrow. If I catch you moving things, I will tie you to a chair, naked, and let Ichigo have his way with you! ;) love you! Give me a call tomorrow! 3_

Lying her phone gently against the bed, Rukia felt her heart breaking. The single room, the room she had pleaded and begged Rangiku for, was hers. She had gotten the call before but in the wake of her attack, she was left with the fact that it was _real_. She looked over at Ichigo's empty bed, hearing the shower cut off and she flipped, curling up facing the wall so he wouldn't be able to tell if she was awake or not. She held her phone clutched in one hand, her grip was tight and her fingers were curled against the screen. The gentle sound of Ichigo's bare feet slapping against her tiled bathroom invaded her mind and she shut her eyes quickly, trying to relax.

She could hear him breathing and smell the fresh scent of rain that clung to the tall man, stronger than even the storm outside. There was a shuffling noise, a sigh, and the hairs on the back of her neck stood up on end just as his shadow fell over her on her bed. Her heart picked up, beating so loud and fast in her chest, she feared he might hear it in the quiet of the room. He sighed again and a moment later a blanket shrouded in Ichigo's rainy musky scent enveloped her body. A large palm lingered above her head before he decided against whatever action he had been about to do and his presence fled from her.

She heard him pull back his sheets and crawl into bed. Tossing and turning a moment to get comfortable, Ichigo was out rather quickly. Lifting a shaky hand, Rukia grabbed an edge of the blanket and brought it closer to her, ducking her head down and burying herself in his scent. Her phone fell to the bed as her eyes drooped. Exhaustion settled where tension and fear had driven her, her body sinking into the bed like a cloud dissolving in the sky until she floated away on the waves of slumber.

When she woke, light had yet to dawn in the room. The storm had broken during the night leaving behind light blue-gray clouds that lingered, heavy and full, with rain. Blearily, she blinked the world into focus while staring at the sunless sky. The temperature had dropped during the night and instead of a decent breeze, the wind that brushed against her bare arm free of the blanket was cold, prickling her flesh. Throwing her arm beneath the blanket, she huddled into it letting the scent of Ichigo's cologne lull her back into a drowsy, half-aware state.

A quiet noise somewhere beneath her head startled her into awareness. Her eyes popped open, blinking slow to clear the confusion setting in as she reached a hand beneath her pillow. She pulled out her cell phone and swiped, wincing at the bright light of her screen. After a couple of failed attempts at unlocking the phone she succeeded and tapped the notification to see who was messaging her at an ungodly hour.

The longer she stared, the less it made sense until, with a sudden snap, it rushed back into clarity. She reread the message, the trickles of sleep fading in the light of a solemn heart.

 _Ori: I can help you move your stuff out of Kurosaki-kun's dorm today, Rukia! I'll be up in an hour. Rangiku-san said you might want to get it done before he wakes up. See you in an hour!_

The text messages from Rangiku popped into her mind and she sighed quietly, feeling cold despite the warmth of the blanket draped over her. Sitting up, she scooted to the edge of the bed as her legs fell off the side. Her sleepy violet-blue pools fell on Ichigo when she lifted her free hand to remove her hair tie and run her hand through her black locks. He was facing away from her, his large frame engulfing the bed. His blanket had fallen to his waist and revealed the tanned, strong back she had never really looked at before. There were a couple of scars dusting his tanned skin, leaving behind thin white lines that marred his flesh.

She snorted through a smile when her eyes travelled up to that shockingly bright orange hair. It was so hard to miss that hair in a crowd and her heart gave a sharp pang at the thought of never seeing it again. Would Ichigo still talk to her or – Her eyes fell to the white carpet as her throat burned. No, when would they ever have time to see each other? Nii-sama was wrong. Following her heart would only lead to heart break. How could she stay and _ruin_ his life like this? Fighting, punching a teacher, teasing her…..He wanted to be a doctor, he was working so hard, and she wouldn't let him throw it all away for her.

It was time to give him back a life before Kuchiki, Rukia had trampled into it. Steeling herself, she stood and her bare feet sunk into the carpet. The soft bristles rubbed her feet in all the right places as she walked as quietly and slowly as she could. At the edge of the bathroom doorway, she spared only a glance at the form sleeping soundly on the bed. Heart beating painfully, Rukia stepped onto the cold tiles of the bathroom that could never be colder than the raging blizzard in her chest – tight and cold and sharp – as she began to pack. She shrugged out of her camisole and pulled off her shorts, tossing them in a suitcase before grabbing a pair of jeans that hugged her upper thighs but loosened towards her ankles pulled over top purple and pink underwear.

She threw on a purple bra to match and shoved her arms through the holes of a long sleeved v-neck dark purple shirt with the words 'Kiss Me' plastered in black writing over the chest and her abdomen. Once her clothes, bathroom products, and hygiene were all packed into her 2 suitcases, she headed out into the shared bedroom. Her heart stopped. Ichigo had shifted in his sleep, rolling onto his back with an arm hanging off the bed. If she had let herself, she would have thought he was reaching for her. His head was facing her, mouth parted as he took precious breath. Orange hair hung over his closed eyes and it was one of the only times Ichigo wasn't scowling was in his sleep. He looked every ounce the kind, compassionate man she knew him to be behind the scowl.

Hot tears stabbed behind her eyes and she held back sobs that wanted to burst from her throat, her gut tightening against the pain flooding her. Before she knew it, she was standing before him and looking down at Kurosaki, Ichigo as he slept. If he woke to see her standing over him she would never live it down. As if her brain was disconnected from her body, a hand lifted to brush those stray strands of bright hair out of his face as he slept. At her touch, he grunted and turned his face upwards into her fingers.

A quiet, breathy gasp was all she could muster as her palm fell gently against his nose, her fingertips touching his warm forehead. Transfixed, she watched a genuine, heartfelt smile stretch his lips and her heart stopped beating. It fell into the dark abyss of her stomach as she jerked her hand back to her chest as if burned. Spinning away, she took large inhales of air to try and soothe her aching body. These feelings would fade, they would disappear with time and one day, she wouldn't even remember…..The tears were like acid as they bubbled forth and she flew into the bathroom, gathering her suitcase handles in her hands and dragging them to the door.

Unlocking it so Orihime wouldn't knock and wake Ichigo, she kicked the door stopper beneath it to hold it open as she rushed back in. Swiping her blankets and twisting them into a bundle, she tossed the large ball of blankets to the floor and dropped to her knees. Dragging out her largest suitcase, she threw the ball of blankets and smoothed it out until it was flat. Grabbing her pillows she tossed them in next before zipping the suitcase closed and sliding it over with it's brethren. A large suitcase, two smaller ones, and her purse which held her wallet, phone, and the dorm keys she had to return sat by the door.

Out of breath she stood in the middle of the room with her hair a mess, desperately shoving back tears and trying to ignore the pain blooming in her chest. That was how Orihime found her when she poked her head into the room to announce her presence in a quiet whisper. "Rukia-chan?"

She squared her shoulders and brushed her fingers through her hair as she made her way over to the busty receptionist. She gestured to the stuff by the door. "This all needs to go there. Do you know where the room is?"

Orihime nodded ecstatically and Rukia felt a heated twinge of jealousy curl in her gut and slither up her spine. The snake chucklingly hissed as it buried it's fangs in her soft heart, penetrating her icy wall, as Orihime flicked her gaze to the half naked Ichigo and nearly swooned. Her face painted red but her eyes remained on the tanned skin of Ichigo's chest and all Rukia wanted to do was shove the girl out the door. Maybe down some stairs…...Shaking her head, she coughed into a fist and watched the comical sight of Orihime squeak like a mouse before grabbing the three bags and she was gone before Rukia could even say anything.

She wanted to refuse the temptation to look at the man sprawled out on his bed but she couldn't and she found her eyes on his form once more. The sky had lightened a bit more, blues and grays and darker blues, almost black, crowded together in the sky. A small, soft light of dawn lit up the room like a fire slowly burning back into focus. Swallowing past the hot lump in her throat she wanted to turn away, screamed at herself to run away. But she couldn't. Instead her feet shuffled toward the man before she fell to her knees at the edge of his bed. Burying her head in her hands she cried out softly, "Why did you make me fall in love with you, you stupid fool?"

Rukia was not a strong believer in Fate. She believed in things she could see and feel and there was no way she believed in something as flimsy as her life being directed by some all powerful hand of God or whatever. At least, she didn't use to but it was the only conclusion she could come to when she would look back at the events that unfolded before her. Focused on Ichigo – why had she listened to her heart, why did the stupid thing keep taking over her!? – she hadn't seen Orihime re-enter the room to come and retrieve her until she had already uttered the words kept locked inside of her, battering inside of her chest like a bull.

She did hear the shocked gasping inhale and her head snapped to Orihime, eyes apologetic and solemn. When those violet blue hit the brown of Orihime, the girl raised her trembling hands to her lips. Misty brown gazed back at her as the girl muttered some type of excuse and spun to hurry out of the room. At the sight of the sparkling tears that flew from her eyes at her quick departure, Rukia jumped to her feet to dart after her broken hearted friend. She had planned to lie, to give up, move on, and leave his life forever but it was the moment she turned to run after the crestfallen Orihime that a tight, firm grip wrapped around her wrist.

Fate pulled her to a halt and she froze, eyes wide as she gazed at the wide open door. The long, thick fingers and the warm palm that gripped her seared her skin as a tight, hard ball dropped into her stomach. She didn't even have to turn around to know what she would see.

As it turns out, she didn't have to turn around at all.

"Did you mean it?"

His rough voice, thick with sleep and an emotion that made her heart pound and a soft ache bloom in her chest, asked quietly even though they both knew there was no mistaking what she had cried out. The burn behind her eyes grew unbearable, prickling behind her eyes like tiny needles and she had to blink rapidly to keep the tears from falling. Her throat was thick and hot, mouth dry and tongue heavy, as she tried to form words.

Panic settled over her skin, crawling through her veins and pumping through her heart as she tried to jerk her wrist away but Ichigo held tight. He didn't budge even when his grip began to hurt and her Kuchiki armor crumbled in icy flakes before her very eyes. She squeezed her violet orbs shut and shouted, voice breaking and thick with tears. "Let go! Ichigo, let me go!"

He didn't, he held her wrist but made no move towards her and for some reason, that thought terrified her. Her struggle picked up as she tried to pull away. The moment she succeeded and her wrist was free, she darted for the door, the fluorescent light from the hallway like a beacon. However Ichigo was not only quicker with longer legs, he moved with a purpose she had never felt from him before. His very presence made her heart stutter and pound as she raced for the door. A cry erupted when a large palm slammed it closed just as she grabbed the door knob and it was way too late to get away as she felt Ichigo move up right behind her.

His heat soaked into the back of her shirt as he slid his palm down and placed his other one on the door until his hands were framing her head. Caged, she sagged against the door, her forehead fell against the wood with a thunk. Eyes closed, she swallowed past the burn in her throat and croaked, "Move. Please, move."

His hands framing her face fell to her upper arms. A twitch of his fingers and he spun her around, pressing her against the door as he took that one step closer and suddenly, Rukia was light headed from the heavy emotions between them. Her heart pounded harder and she winced at the pain of it, refusing to look up at him. Those broad hands caressed her shoulders, fingers dancing up her neck, and he cupped her face in his palms. Tilting her head up was the last straw and Rukia felt shame eat at her as a tear slid down her right eye. Ichigo's thumb swiped it before it could fall and his deep, throaty voice rumbled out, "Look at me."

Whether he was feeling bold or thought he was comforting her, those thumbs gently and slowly wiped across her cheeks, methodic, and with her mouth in a thin line, her violet orbs opened to meet Ichigo's. Her breath halted and her heart lost it's rhythm as she looked up into those brown pools she knew. They were dark and swirling as he gazed at her but soft around the pupil where she could see a bright amber. Her knees wobbled and she would have fallen if not for the firm strong body that had her caged against the door. Her lip trembled when she realized, without her knowing it, her hands had dug her nails into his bare chest. The skin was warm and firm beneath her, sending heat curling and dancing through her arms and straight into her belly.

The moment her lip wobbled, Ichigo's dark gaze fell down and her body tensed at the heat that flooded her when his gaze narrowed onto her lips. His mouth parted as his eyes met hers, glazed with tendrils of desire but a softer emotion laced through those brown orbs. He leaned his head down until her body went numb from the proximity.

Later, she would smack him and yell at him and curse at him for the underhanded method he had used. His words, however, were spoken softly and the moment she heard them, she gave a small cry. "I love you, you love me, nothing else matters."

He swallowed her cry with his mouth, his lips pressing firmly into her own, and her body sparked to life at his kiss. Her nerves thrummed, her skin tingled, and the hot warmth in her gut flooded her. Tears leaked from her closed eyes as Ichigo moved his lips over hers, branding the truth into her with the heated touch of their lips locked in a desperate desire. Unconsciously she let out a moan, parting her mouth, and Ichigo took advantage of her parted lips. He slid his tongue into her mouth, grazing her bottom lip before coaxing against her own. He swallowed her breath and her tears and the only thing he left her with was a shattered icy wall, broken Kuchiki armor, and a heart she still had no idea how to use.

Wrapping her arms around his neck, she pulled herself up, deepening the kiss and twisting her tongue around his own. He growled into the kiss and jerked his lips off hers, their quick, rapid breaths fanning between them. "I can't keep up with the speed of the world without you, Rukia."

She opened her eyes and looked into his brown gaze, a small soft smile twisting at her wet, thoroughly kissed lips. "Good thing you won't have to, Ichigo."

The moment his name, heavy and laced with desire, fled her mouth she found her lips preoccupied with his own. Her lids fluttered closed as she kissed him back, smiling against his lips.

Kuchiki's do _not_ fall in love!

Except, maybe….

She did.


End file.
